About the Department

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in the Duke University School of Medicine is a diverse, robust, interdisciplinary academic department with programs focused on education and training, patient care and community health, consultations and collaborations, and research and scholarship. The department is home to the Number 1-ranked Duke Physician Assistant Program and the highly-ranked Duke Family Medicine Residency. In all that we do, remembering that people and communities come first helps us put things in perspective.

Our Mission

To serve our patients, learners, communities, and each other in pursuit of better health for all.

Our Values

  • Wellness and Compassion
  •  Respect and Integrity
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Community and Collaboration
  • Service and Learning
  • Enthusiasm and Curiosity
  • Equity and Justice
  • Joy and Honesty

By the Numbers

  • 34 MD faculty
  • 3 DO faculty
  • 15 PA-C faculty
  • 13 PhD faculty
  • 2 MD, PhD faculty
  • 16 Emeriti faculty
  • 298 Community faculty appointments
  • 157 Staff
  • 20 Residents
  • 48 Fellows
  • 179 PA students
  • 130 Second-year family medicine clerkship MD students

Education & Training

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health develops and delivers innovative education programs for a wide range of medical professionals and health sciences learners. Programs include the Number 1-ranked Duke Physician Assistant Program, residencies in family medicine and occupational medicine, a sports medicine fellowship in partnership with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, plus family medicine clinical rotations and community health electives for medical students. The department also offers a Primary Care Transformation Fellowship for physicians and PAs. A robust selection of CME opportunities is also offered, including monthly faculty development sessions, Grand Rounds talks from Duke colleagues and visiting professors, and a summer teaching series in Hilton Head, SC. The department is also home to a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Leadership and a Certificate in Health Care Transformation.

Patient Care & Community Health

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health provides a wide range of primary care, preventive, and care management services to individuals, families, and communities in the Durham, NC, area. Our family medicine clinics offer comprehensive, coordinated primary care to patients of all ages — from prenatal care to geriatrics — and a wide variety of procedural services. The department also operates community- and school-based clinics and wellness centers, as well as occupational health clinics and wellness programs for Duke University’s employees and employees of contracted companies in the area. Department clinicians also care for Duke’s student population at Duke Student Health. The Division of Community Health engages Duke researchers, learners, and providers to advance the knowledge and practice of community health improvement.

Research & Scholarship

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health’s diverse group of full-time researchers, clinical and non-clinical faculty, and learners are actively engaged with clinical, community, and population health research programs. Areas of research include chronic disease epidemiological studies across the life course, community-based interventions to combat social and environmental risk factors for chronic disease, occupational epidemiology, and global health. The department is also home to a team of groundbreaking PA researchers who focus on health services, health policy, and workforce development research. Scholarly activity in the department includes developing or contributing to textbooks; publishing clinical and educational review articles;  presenting educational, clinical, and population health topics at national and international meetings; and active participation in many health policy groups.