LETTER
Change from Specialist to Generalist
Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, MPH, MA;
Jerry A. Jacobs, PhD; and
Carla M. Messikomer, PhD
15 April 1995 | Volume 122 Issue 8 | Page 636
IN RESPONSE:
We thank Dr. De Long for providing us with the opportunity to state our conviction—in agreement with him—that the difference between "generalists" and "specialists," which is based on the nature of the medical care provided to patients, should not also imply a difference in the status of the physician. We do not make a status distinction between generalists and specialists; rather, we suggest how we might augment the number of generalists who are currently considered, in many quarters, to be preferable to specialists. Indeed, because one of the principal findings of our study was that more physicians abandon generalist roles during their careers than seek them, we recommended several specific ways to improve the attractiveness of generalist practice so that the inflow of specialists into generalist practice increases. We believe that people fall into a semantic trap if they assume that being a "specialist" means being somehow superior, a trap we want to avoid.
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