Labor

Abstract

As the practice of family medicine becomes increasingly regulated and defined by business parameters, it is easy to lose sight of the reasons we chose the practice of family medicine. As teachers and role models for students and residents, we must remember the relationships that provide the greatest therapy for patients and the greatest satisfaction in our work. These relationships are the foundations of family medicine. Our work, our "labor," sometimes feels meaningless in the day-to-day drain of primary care but reveals its real fulfillment in the skill we bring to helping families through life transitions, especially in the labors of birthing and dying.