Head’s Message

"Family medicine is the cornerstone of an effective healthcare system, bridging individual clinical care with public health. Our department is proud to be a pioneer in family medicine education in Iran. We are dedicated to training compassionate physicians who provide continuous, comprehensive, and preventive care to our community. Through academic rigor and close collaboration with primary healthcare centers, we prepare our graduates to meet the diverse health needs of families."

Overview

Welcome to the Department of Family Medicine at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Mashhad University of Medical Sciences was the first institution in the country to establish a dedicated academic Department of Family Medicine in February 2009. The department was founded with the collaboration of 15 academic faculty members. It was initially tasked with developing and delivering the Master of Public Health (MPH) program to empower family physicians, as well as designing the specialized clinical residency program in family medicine. Since 2014, the department has also integrated structured family medicine clerkships for medical students and successfully trained family medicine clinical residents, primarily based within primary healthcare centers and community clinics.

Our Expertise

The Department of Family Medicine contributes to primary healthcare and medical education through the following clinical and academic areas:

• Primary and Preventive Healthcare: Educating physicians to provide first-line, comprehensive, and continuous healthcare for individuals and families in the community.
• MPH for Family Physicians: Running the modular Master of Public Health (MPH) program designed to empower general practitioners in public health management and clinical practice.
• Clinical Residency Training: Offering structured family medicine residency education focused on community-based care and clinical rotations.
• Undergraduate Medical Education: Providing four-week clinical family medicine clerkships for medical students, focusing on common diseases, outpatient care, and geriatric medicine.
• Community Health Promotion: Collaborating with public health authorities to implement family medicine programs and strengthen level-one healthcare delivery.

Educational and Research Mission

• Vision: To remain a leading national academic department in family medicine, producing competent primary care physicians who serve as the foundation of an efficient healthcare system.
• Mission: To educate skilled, community-oriented family physicians, run advanced public health programs, and conduct research that improves primary health services and population health outcomes.

Objectives:

• Training family medicine residents and MPH students in accordance with national curricula.
• Enhancing medical students’ competencies in outpatient care, prevention, and geriatric health.
• Conducting applied health-system research to support evidence-based primary care.
• Collaborating with health deputies to optimize the referral system and level-one clinical settings.