This JAMA study compared the intended scope of practice for family-medicine residents with  the reported scope of practice among currently practicing ones.

If concluded that “family medicine residents reported an intention to provide a broader scope of practice than that reported by current practitioners. This pattern suggests that these differences are not generational, but whether they are due to limited practice support, employer constraints, or other causes remains to be determined.”

In any event, government and private-sector initiatives will continue to direct more resources than in the past to primary-care physicians compared to specialists. However, this will be diluted by more authority being given to nonphysician (and cheaper) primary-care clinicians — primarily nurse practitioners and physician assistants.