(Family Medicine). The curriculum of DNB (FM) comprises: (1) medicine and allied sciences; (2) surgery and allied sciences; (3) maternal and child health; (4) basic sciences and community health. During their three-year residency, candidates receive integrated inpatient and outpatient learning. They also receive field training at community health centres and clinics. The Medical Council of India permits accredited medical colleges (medical schools) to conduct a similar residency programme in family medicine. On successful completion of three-year residency, candidates are awarded Doctor of Medicine (Family Medicine). A few of the AIIMS institutes have also started a course called MD in community and family medicine in recent years. Even though there is an acute shortage of qualified family physicians in India, further progress has been slow. The Indian Medical Association’s College of General Practitioners, offers a one-year Diploma in Family Medicine (DFM), a distance education programme of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, for doctors with minimum five years of experience in general practice. Since the Medical Council of India requires three-year residency for family medicine specialty, these diplomas are not recognized qualifications in India. As India's need for primary and secondary levels of health care is enormous, medical educators have called for systemic changes to include family medicine in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Recently, the residency-trained family physicians have formed the Academy of Family Physicians of India (AFPI). AFPI is the academic association of family physicians with formal full-time residency training (DNB Family Medicine) in Family medicine. Currently there are about two hundred family medicine residency training sites accredited by the National Board of Examination India, providing around 700 training posts annually. However, there are various issues like academic acceptance, accreditation, curriculum development, uniform training standards, faculty development, research in primary care, etc. in need of urgent attention for family medicine to flourish as an academic specialty in India. The government of India has declared Family Medicine as focus area of human resource development in health sector in the National Health Policy 2002 There is discussion ongoing to employ multi-skilled doctors with DNB family medicine qualification against specialist posts in NRHM (National Rural Health Mission). Three possible models of how family physicians will practise their specialty in India might evolve, namely (1) private practice, (2) practising at primary care clinics/hospitals, (3) practising as consultants at secondary/tertiary care hospitals. British model A group of 15 doctors based in