{"id":13074,"date":"2025-12-11T11:50:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/?page_id=13074"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:51:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:51:40","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/about-us\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Established in 1997, the Department of Family Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian &amp; 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.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">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.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">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\u00a0it&#8217;s\u00a0practiced.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">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,\u00a0the department has\u00a0prioritized\u00a0quality improvement, care integration, and whole-community health. Key areas of impact include:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Advancing the transformation to patient-centered medical homes<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Supporting the shift to value-based care, including\u00a0quality care initiatives.\u00a0MassHealth ACO initiatives<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Using data to analyze and improve population health outcomes for vulnerable populations<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Developing\u00a0tools and frameworks, such as the Health Network Compass, to guide system-wide improvement<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Increasing the number of family medicine clinicians in Boston HealthNet community health centers<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-contrast=\"none\">Leading the way during the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting system-wide response efforts<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Though the department&#8217;s\u00a0focus\u00a0remains\u00a0local,\u00a0its\u00a0reach has\u00a0also\u00a0expanded beyond Boston.\u00a0The\u00a0sports medicine division has grown into a nationally recognized program, and the\u00a0department\u2019s\u00a0global health partnerships in places like Lesotho and Vietnam have helped strengthen primary care education and infrastructure internationally.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Today, under the leadership of Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, the department continues to build on\u00a0its\u00a0solid foundation, advancing family medicine as a driver of health equity in Boston and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Established in 1997, the Department of Family Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian &amp; 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15692,"featured_media":0,"parent":220,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13074"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13299,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13074\/revisions\/13299"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/familymed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}