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Located within the Leawood headquarters of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Center for the History of Family Medicine serves as an archive for materials related to the history and evolution of family medicine in the United States. The collections, which are open to the public, include everything from the personal records of pioneers in the field of family medicine to photographs and publications such as journals. The American Academy of Family Physicians was established in 1947 as the American Academy of General Practice. The organization presently represents over 130,000 practitioners and has served as the home of this archive and public health history center since 1992.


The Center is located within the headquarters of American Academy of Family Physicians in Leawood, Kansas

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Center for the History of Family Medicine logo

Center for the History of Family Medicine logo

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The American Medical Association officially recognized Family Medicine as a medical specialty in 1969. With that designation, the American Board of Family Practice, a predecessor to the American Board of Family Medicine, was empowered to grant certification to family physicians. The Center collection has grown to over 2,000 cubic feet of materials related to the history of family medicine. In addition to being a publicly accessible archive for residents and those who can travel to Kansas City, the Center has a searchable database and offers portable exhibits that can be requested by organizations that would like to host a display on related topics. The Center also offers digital exhibits related to a variety of public health topics, including one dedicated to the history of family medicine dating back to the founding of the American Academy of General Practice in 1947. The Center also supports exhibits related to public health and the responses of family physicians. For example, the Center worked with organizations that documented life during the COVID-19 pandemic and created links to those exhibits on their website.