Background: The establishment and support of strong university-based departments of family medicine is central to the success of family practice. The purpose of this study was to provide existing and developing departments of family medicine with information on the characteristics of strong established departments.
Methods: Chairs of existing departments were asked to identify the five strongest university-based departments in the country. Based on an 80% response rate, a select group of 24 chairs representing the strongest departments was surveyed using a Delphi technique.
Results: A systems and contingency model was used as the basis for organizing the Delphi responses. Seven core factors were identified and ranked by the chairs for each of the six systems and subsystems of the model describing university-based departments.
Conclusions: Key ingredients that are common to most strong departments are the ability of the department to respond to the external environment, the presence of state and federal financial support, leadership and vision by the chair, strong clinically oriented faculty, management practices that keep everyone informed, and mutual support and respect within the department.