Family medicine was forged in the crucible of social movements of the 1960s. The consequential issues of our times—climate change, systemic racism, inequality of wealth, gun violence, reproductive rights, among others—are all contests for the common good that require social movements to achieve systemic reform. Primary care, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, is also a common good. Is family medicine ready to tap its brash, founding energy to reignite a second counterculture revolution to challenge profits, power, and privilege that harm society’s collective wellbeing? This presentation will address the essential ingredients of a counterculture revolution, including daring to be radical and not settling for incrementalism; speaking truth to power; identifying and dismantling structures that reinforce the status quo; democratizing alliances; and acknowledging one’s own complicity in harmful systems. If the speaker and audience do not feel uncomfortable at some point during the session, then the presentation will not have achieved its objectives.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:
- Recognize the roots of family medicine as a countercultural specialty
- Characterize primary care as a common good
- Identify the key elements of a counterculture revolution
- Incorporate revolutionary acts into one’s professional life while being able to continue to earn a livelihood in family medicine
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