As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it’s like to specialize in family medicine? Meet William Childs, DO, a family physician and a featured doctor in the AMA’s “Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which offers advice directly from physicians about life in their specialties. Check out his insights to help determine whether a career in family medicine might be a good fit for you.
The AMA Specialty Guide simplifies medical students’ specialty selection process, highlights major specialties, details training information, and provides access to related association information. It is produced by FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®.
Learn more with the AMA about the medical specialty of family medicine.
“Shadowing” Dr. William Childs
Specialty: Family medicine.
Practice setting: Hospital-affiliated outpatient.
Employment type: Employed by Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan. Henry Ford Health is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Years in practice: One.
A typical day and week in my practice: Currently, I work 32 hours of clinical time and four hours of administrative time per week. I am in the clinic Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m.; and Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. I also work every third Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. Admittedly, as I adapt and I’m becoming accustomed to the demands of primary care, I tend to arrive one or two hours early each day so I can stay on top of notes, labs, messages and paperwork.
Within family medicine, the day to day is varied and so is the week. You may start the day off doing a Medicare well visit, then have well-child visits, then move on to a knee injection, then have a scheduled colposcopy or an acute visit for an abscess incision and drainage. There is really no typical week. The pathology is varied and so are the patients and their social determinants of health. This is what makes family medicine such an amazing specialty.
The most challenging and rewarding aspects of family medicine: Before choosing family medicine, I thoroughly enjoyed ob-gyn. In truth, it was my favorite rotation. However, I couldn’t see myself not working with Black men. Then I considered family medicine.
Knowing that less than 6% of U.S. physicians are Black, I knew that my presence, interacting with young Black children, could be inspirational. Therefore, family medicine it was! I get to work in the very community that raised me.
My clinic is down the street from where I grew up. Because of this, the administrative burden pales in comparison to the reward and personal satisfaction I get from being a committed physician in my community.
The impact burnout has on family medicine: It is real and significant in comparison to other specialties, which is evident by my recent decrease in time less than one year into being a newly minted attending.
I believe that as physicians we are hyperfocused and committed to remaining empathetic to our patients. However, we lack the ability to do the same for ourselves. As physicians, we are front line for the health care industry and, despite our pivotal role, the health care system continues to add administrative burden, reducing appointment slot times.
I am hopeful, though, that with the move towards a value-based care model, primary care will become more highly valued.
We are significant—without question—and the true work and care that we provide is of the utmost importance because we are the gateway to health care. We build relationships that are intergenerational and built on true trust, empathy and authenticity. However, currently health care overall does not truly value or practice continuity of care, and we are all at the mercy of a for-profit insurance industry.
How my lifestyle matches, or differs from, what I had envisioned: I honestly did not have a certain lifestyle envisioned at the time I pursued family medicine, although I knew that I would be a primary care physician early on. Many physicians cautioned me not to choose primary care because “there is no money in it.”
But I am a man who is faith-driven and my goal is to be aservant-leader, so I pursued what filled my heart and spirit. I know that health equity and its imbalance is real, and I know that my community is riddled with social determinants of health, which equates to a large gap in preventable diseases, hospitalizations and even deaths.
I am committed to providing the highest evidence-based, culturally competent care to my community. Keeping my purpose at the forefront, I know that the money will follow. Primary care is overworked and overburdened with administrative tasks, without appropriate support, and constantly fighting to demonstrate its worth. Family medicine must be concerned with every aspect of a person—not just a single system, but every system—which includes both socioeconomic and mental well-being.
Being committed to this drives me. I want to be a part of the solution that gives back to my community and to assist those who look like me by improving our overall health and increasing our life expectancy. I want to be able to inspire young people who grew up like meto be something that they don’t see on a regular basis.
The work-life balance I am still working on. As much as I am a physician, I am also a father, husband, son and uncle. Admittedly, it is difficult because the inefficiencies of the health system leave an unfair burden on the physician because, at the onset, we are committed to people, committed to optimizing their health and overall health care needs. But I am still learning.
Skills every physician in training should have for family medicine but won’t be tested for on the board exam: The main skill every physician in training should have—not so much only for family medicine, but as a physician in general—is sincere empathy. Of course, we all may not share the same struggles, but nurturing an ability to understand and appreciate others’ struggles is paramount. No one in this life sets out to be ill or to have limited or even no resources. Often, there is a bigger play involved.
As you take on this journey of training to become a physician, recognize that you're interacting with not merely a patient but a human being. If you do not know something, that’s fine. What your training provides is the ability to leverage resources and find an avenue to uncover what you do not know. Follow through and follow up because another human being is counting on you. Essentially, treat every person like they could be your family member or, even better, like you would want someone to treat you.
One question physicians in training should ask themselves before pursuing family medicine: What’s your why? Money is not enough. If you are pursuing medicine for money, you could choose something less demanding and earn much more money.
Books, podcasts or other resources every medical student interested in family medicine should be reading:
- The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. This novel is one that I like to reread every so often. As a non traditional, first-generation college graduate and physician, most of what I’ve learned has been from failing. However, I lean into the fact that I am certain that life, in its totality, is about preparation and growth. The Alchemist cements the notion of dreaming big, following those dreams, leaning into the ebb and flow of life, and ultimately trusting the process.
- Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande, MD. As certain as we were born, we will all die one day. I believe that this text shows us that as hyperfocused as we are on goals, careers, accomplishments, etc., too easily we can miss the texture and experiences that actually provide us with real value and insight into a lived, fulfilled life. It is a beautiful read.
- The Bible. For me, faith is paramount. This journey has been riddled with obstacles, and it is this book that has consistently and continually carried me through every phase and facet of my life.
Additional advice I would give to students who are considering family medicine: Do not pursue medicine for anyone else—do it for yourself. My hope is that your journey is smooth, nothing like mine. However, understand that in life one cannot appreciate success without failure, love without having experienced a heartbreak, and even life and living without having experienced death in some way.
The universe has no ill will toward you. All that you encounter is meant to prepare and grow you. Even more, some of what you encounter may not even be for you, but to uplift and support a person you’ve yet to meet. Remain humble, follow your heart and treat every person as you would wish to be treated.
Best of luck—may you continue to soar!
