In 1984, Dr. Robert B. Taylor came to Oregon from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina as the Department's second chairman. Dr. Taylor recruited faculty members who had formal fellowship training and prior academic experience to the Department, and the decade of the 1980s witnessed substantial expansion, notably in the Department's predoctoral education programs. In 1988, an ambulatory care clerkship was added to the third year curriculum of the School of Medicine, which ultimately evolved into a required third year clerkship in family medicine for our medical students.

The late 1980s witnessed a comprehensive overhaul of the School of Medicine's curriculum that involved several important curricular innovations. First, the School of Medicine developed a Principles of Clinical Medicine course to run longitudinally through the first two years of medical school, involving approximately one day per week of medical student time. Half of this time was devoted to small group problem-based learning, while one half day per week was dedicated to ongoing clinical care to insure that our students had a continuity clinical experience from the very first days of medical school. The Principles of Clinical Medicine course was developed by an interdisciplinary committee that was headed by Drs. William Toffler and Scott Fields from the Department of Family Medicine.

The 1990s were a decade of rapid growth for the Department. During this time our faculty increased from fifteen to fifty primary faculty members. In 1991, OHSU developed a third year primary care clerkship in conjunction with the Oregon Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program; this six-week clerkship allows students to travel to small towns throughout Oregon to learn about community-based health care, especially in a rural setting. We established three new family practice centers in the Portland Metropolitan Area – OHSU Family Medicine at Gabriel Park, Richmond and Scappoose – and relocated two thirds of our residents into community-based clinics away from the OHSU campus. With this clinical expansion, the volume of patient care in our practice grew from approximately 30,000 outpatient visits to nearly 120,000 outpatient visits a year in family medicine alone.

In 1994 the Cascades East Family Practice Residency opened in Klamath Falls, Oregon, with six resident positions in each of the three years of training. Dr. James Calvert was hired as the founding program director for this residency program, whose curricular focus is on the training of rural family physicians. In 1996 the Department established a four-year combined family medicine/preventive medicine residency.

In 1998 Dr. John Saultz was selected as the Department's third chairman, after having served as the residency director and vice chairman in the Department and as Assistant Dean of Primary Care of the School of Medicine. Dr. Saultz's roles at OHSU also include responsibility for the University's primary care clinical programs and director of the Oregon Statewide AHEC Program.

In 1999, the Department received funding for a two-year research fellowship to provide formal training for researchers in the field of family medicine. Also, we began a one-year Leadership Fellowship for Family Practice Residency graduates.

The Providence Family Practice Residency in Metro Portland opened in 2001. This new program, affiliated with our Department, brings the total number of residency programs in Oregon and nearby Vancouver, Washington, to four. Also in 2001, Dr. Rob Ross was appointed to serve as Director of the Cascades East Family Practice Residency Program, as Dr. Calvert moved to a role in clinical research.

In 2002, we began the Oregon Rural Practice Research Network (ORPRN), led by Dr. L. J. Fagnan, helping physicians across Oregon learn the answers to important clinical questions.

Over the past few years the Department has developed an enriching international presence. We currently have physician exchange programs in the Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Japan. We have hosted a number of visiting physicians from these countries, as well as from Belgium, Russia, Korea, Israel, New Zealand, England and Saudi Arabia.

Throughout the Department's history we have had a strong Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG). The OHSU FMIG has received the AAFP Program of Excellence Award each of the first six years that it was awarded, the only FMIG in America to be so honored.

The OHSU Family Medicine Clinic, on the 9th floor of the new OHSU Center for Health and Healing at the South Waterfront Campus opened in October, 2006, and the old Marquam Hill/Emma Jones Hall clinic closed its doors.

Our department’s research enterprise has enjoyed remarkable growth over the past few years, allowing us to obtain some competitive grant awards and to attract several national-class research faculty to our Department. In 2007, Richard A. Deyo, MD, MPH was selected as the Kaiser Permanente Professor in Evidence Based Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine.

Also in 2007, Roger Garvin, MD was chosen to be the Department's new residency director. Dr. Garvin is only the fourth person to hold this position in the 35 year history of the Department.

U.S. News and World Report currently ranks OHSU School of Medicine number 2 in the nation in primary care education. For the past 12 years, the Department has been ranked among the top family medicine departments in the country.

Through the hard work of its University-based faculty and staff and our 280 volunteer faculty members, the Department continues to lead key programs in the medical school, administer two of the nation’s leading residency programs, care for patients in five family health centers, and initiate stimulating new activities that advance family medicine in Oregon, the USA and worldwide.

We hope that all current and past faculty, staff, residents and students will come to the 35th Department Reunion scheduled for August 10-11, 2007.

OHSU Family Medicine