History
Established in 1997, the Department of Family Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine was the first university-based department of its kind in greater Boston. Founded by Dr. Larry Culpepper, it set out to establish family medicine in a city long defined by subspeciality care while working in close partnership with Boston Medical Center and Boston HealthNet community health centers.
From the start, the department focused on three priorities: caring for patients, training future family physicians, and advancing research grounded in community settings. That same commitment continues today, with faculty and trainees providing care across local neighborhoods most impacted by health inequities.
Education has been central to this work. The department launched its third-year clerkship in 1998 and welcomed its first residents in 1999, training them in community health centers with the belief that the best place to learn family medicine is where it’s practiced.
As the department grew, so did its scope, expanding into inpatient care, strengthening its presence across community sites, and helping to shape how primary care is delivered. From the start, the department has prioritized quality improvement, care integration, and whole-community health. Key areas of impact include:
- Advancing the transformation to patient-centered medical homes
- Supporting the shift to value-based care, including quality care initiatives. MassHealth ACO initiatives
- Using data to analyze and improve population health outcomes for vulnerable populations
- Developing tools and frameworks, such as the Health Network Compass, to guide system-wide improvement
- Increasing the number of family medicine clinicians in Boston HealthNet community health centers
- Leading the way during the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting system-wide response efforts
Though the department’s focus remains local, its reach has also expanded beyond Boston. The sports medicine division has grown into a nationally recognized program, and the department’s global health partnerships in places like Lesotho and Vietnam have helped strengthen primary care education and infrastructure internationally.
Today, under the leadership of Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, the department continues to build on its solid foundation, advancing family medicine as a driver of health equity in Boston and beyond.