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Family physician education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a family physician. Family physicians usually study medicine, nursing, or veterinary science. 36% of family physicians hold a doctoral degree, and 24% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 1,143 real family physician resumes to see exactly what family physician education sections show.
The most common colleges for family physicians are the University of the Sciences and the University of the Sciences.
There are also many online family physician courses to help get the education required to be a family physician.
There are certain family physician certifications that you should consider. These family physician certifications include Family Medicine and Medical Assistant.
What education do you need to become a family physician?
What degree do you need to be a family physician?
- Doctorate, 36%
- Bachelor's, 24%
- Master's, 7%
- Associate, 7%
- Other Degrees, 26%
What should I major in to become a family physician?
Most common colleges for family physicians
| Family physician common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of the Sciences | 14.67% |
| University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences | 6.67% |
| West Virginia University | 5.33% |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | 5.33% |
| Eastern Virginia Medical School | 5.33% |
Best majors for family physicians
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicine | 44.1% |
| 2 | Nursing | 10.6% |
| 3 | Veterinary Science | 7.1% |
| 4 | Biology | 5.6% |
| 5 | Medical Assisting Services | 5.6% |
Best colleges for family physicians
The best colleges for family physicians are Northwestern University, Emory University, and Case Western Reserve University.
A family physician with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for family physicians. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become family physicians.
1. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-state tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
2. Emory University
Atlanta, GA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,306
Enrollment
6,975
3. Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH • Private
In-state tuition
$49,042
Enrollment
5,131
4. University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT • Private
In-state tuition
$15,730
Enrollment
18,830
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
6. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
7. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Private
In-state tuition
$10,726
Enrollment
45,769
8. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ • Private
In-state tuition
$14,974
Enrollment
35,656
9. University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$19,080
Enrollment
19,127
10. University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO • Private
In-state tuition
$8,178
Enrollment
7,681
20 best online courses for family physicians
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1. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care
This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...
2. Health for All Through Primary Health Care
This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...
3. Introduction to Longevity Medicine
A Medical Guide to Longevity Medicine for Physicians...
4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
5. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes
COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...
6. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course
The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...
7. Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine Advanced Diploma
A complete program in one course, This Diploma is an Encyclopedia in The Natural Medicine field...
8. How to Help Family Members or Friends with Mental Illness
Practical Counseling Skills to help children, family or friends with Depression, Anxiety, or Other Mental Illness...
9. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative
Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...
10. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children
Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...
11. Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Training
Learn medical coding and prepare yourself for today's healthcare workplace...
12. Trauma Emergencies and Care
Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...
13. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation
Kidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas...
14. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...
15. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale
Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...
16. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations
Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...
17. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care
In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...
18. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers
This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...
19. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff
Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...
20. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities
A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...
Top 10 most affordable universities for family physicians
The most affordable schools for family physicians are University of Florida, florida international university, and florida state university.
If the best universities for family physicians are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for family physicians.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
3. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
4. Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$4,831
Cost of attendance
19,559
5. University of Missouri - Kansas City
Kansas City, MO • Private
In-state tuition
$8,178
Cost of attendance
20,934
6. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
7. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Cost of attendance
22,430
8. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
9. Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Alexandria, LA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,668
Cost of attendance
14,488
10. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for family physicians
The hardest universities for family physicians to get into are Northwestern University, Emory University, and Case Western Reserve University.
Some great schools for family physicians are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for family physicians based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
2. Emory University
Atlanta, GA • Private
Admissions rate
19%
SAT average
1,449
3. Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,443
4. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
Admissions rate
26%
SAT average
1,427
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
8. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,422
9. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,517
10. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for family physicians
The easiest schools for family physicians to get into are AdventHealth University, university of the incarnate word, and pennsylvania state university - shenango.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a family physician without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for family physicians.
1. AdventHealth University
Orlando, FL • Private
Admissions rate
87%
SAT average
1,016
2. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
3. Pennsylvania State University - Shenango
Sharon, PA • Private
Admissions rate
75%
SAT average
989
4. Pennsylvania State University - Fayette (The Eberly Campus)
Lemont Furnace, PA • Private
Admissions rate
80%
SAT average
1,067
5. Midwestern State University
Wichita Falls, TX • Private
Admissions rate
71%
SAT average
1,033
6. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
7. Presentation College
Aberdeen, SD • Private
Admissions rate
97%
SAT average
1,050
8. Washington Adventist Hospital
Takoma Park, MD • Private
Admissions rate
52%
SAT average
958
9. Methodist College
Peoria, IL • Private
Admissions rate
39%
SAT average
1,015
10. Clarkson College
Omaha, NE • Private
Admissions rate
41%
SAT average
1,035
Average family physician salary by education level
| Family physician education level | Family physician salary |
|---|---|
| Doctorate Degree | $221,602 |
Family physician education FAQs
Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025