TY - JOUR T1 - Developing family practice to respond to global health challenges JF - Canadian Family Physician JO - Can Fam Physician SP - 602 LP - 606 VL - 63 IS - 8 AU - Neil Arya AU - Bruce Dahlman AU - Christine Gibson AU - David Ponka AU - Cynthia Haq AU - Katherine Rouleau AU - Stephanie Hansel Y1 - 2017/08/01 UR - http://www.cfp.ca/content/63/8/602.abstract N2 - Objective To assess family medicine’s role in developing strong, coordinated, community-based, integrated health care systems in low-resource settings globally.Composition of the committee A subgroup of the Besrour Centre of the College of Family Physicians of Canada developed connections with selected international colleagues with expertise in international family medicine practice, health systems and capacity building, and teaching to map family medicine globally and give a bird’s eye view of family medicine internationally.Methods Following a background literature review, the authors collectively reflected on their substantial international experience to attempt to describe best practices for various contexts.Report With the failure of vertical, disease-oriented models to provide sustained improvements in health outcomes, the need to develop integrated primary care involving the most appropriate health professionals for differing contexts is becoming apparent worldwide. Health system planning is required to develop policies on health professional training to achieve this. Advocating and offering appropriate incentives for, and coordination of, local opportunities within the health system also becomes paramount. The adaptability and generalist nature of family medicine allows it to respond to the unique needs of a given population. Family physicians with adequate financial and physical resources can function most effectively as members of interdisciplinary teams, thus providing valuable, comprehensive health services in any area of the world. ER -