Congratulations to Michigan's Medical School Class of 2023

More than 40% of State's Graduates Choose Primary Care Specialties

Its graduation season for 1,153 seniors at Michigan’s seven medical schools, marking their transition from student to Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and putting them one step closer to starting their medical residency training.

Michigan Academy of Family Physicians is honored to be the statewide membership association representing 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students exploring the family medicine specialty. Forty-one percent of MAFP’s 1,055 student members belong to the class of 2023.

“On behalf of Michigan Academy of Family Physicians, the Board of Directors and staff wish Michigan’s graduating medical students the best as they continue their training. With the physician—especially the primary care physician—shortage continuing to escalate, MAFP is pleased that 42% of Michigan’s class of 2023 has chosen primary care specialties,” said MAFP Chief Executive Officer Karlene Ketola, MSA, CAE.

Michigan Needs More Family Physicians

Family medicine is among the primary care specialties for which there is a great need. Nationally, 100 million people in the United States don’t have a usual source of primary care, and workforce shortage reports estimate up to 48,000 more primary care physicians are needed by 2034. In Michigan, we are currently more than 850 primary care physicians short.

Recruiting and retaining family medicine resident physicians in Michigan is essential to ensuring our state has the workforce needed to meet the demand for physician-led team-based primary care. Primary care is defined as, “the provision of integrated, accessible healthcare services by physicians and their health care teams who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal healthcare needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. The care is person-centered, team-based, community-aligned, and designed to achieve better health, better care, and lower costs.”

Welcoming Residents to Michigan’s Family of Family Medicine

In addition to graduating seniors staying in Michigan for family medicine residency, intern (first-year) residents from across the United States and international medical schools will be joining our state’s 39 family medicine residency programs starting in July.

“MAFP invites all family medicine residents to join the Academy, to benefit from the wide variety of resources, tools, networking, and leadership skill-building opportunities that MAFP and American Academy of Family Physicians provide. We strive to be a source of support throughout each resident’s training and their years in practice,” said Ketola.

Among Michigan’s incoming class of 265 family medicine residents is Koby Buth, of Western Michigan Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine's Class of 2023. For the past year, Koby has served on the Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan Board of Trustees and was MAFP’s Student Alternate Delegate to AAFP’s 2023 National Congress of Student Members. Both positions provided Koby with opportunities to learn more about the specialty and expand his family medicine community.

“I initially chose family medicine because I became passionate about the importance of preventive care. As I moved through the clinical years of medical school, I also found myself drawn to the procedures of surgery, chronic disease management of internal medicine and pediatrics, and the care of more acute conditions in obstetrics and psychiatry as well. There is no field in medicine that allows me to do all this like family medicine does,” said Koby.

Koby will undergo his residency training at Trinity Health St. Mary’s family medicine program in Grand Rapids.

“I chose to stay in Michigan because I find it a beautiful place to live, a vibrant place to work, and an exciting place to explore.”