Family medicine (FM) is a medical specialty devoted to comprehensive health care for people of all ages. It is a division of primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca), the aim of family medicine is to provide personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community. . The issues of values which underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics. In Europe the discipline is often referred to as general practice, emphasising its holistic nature rather as well as its roots in the family. Others refer to it as the classic GP, knowledgeable yet compassionate.

Family physicians in the United States may hold either an M.D. or a D.O. degree. Physicians who specialize in family medicine must successfully complete an accredited three-year family medicine residency in the United States in addition to their medical degree. They are then eligible to sit for a board certification examination now required by most hospitals and health plans. The American Board of Family Medicine requires its Diplomates to maintain certification through an ongoing process of continuing medical education, medical knowledge review, patient care oversight through chart audits, practice-based learning through quality improvement projects and retaking the board certification examination every 7 to 10 years.