In the late 1960s, a Utah state government committee was appointed to study the state’s healthcare needs. The committee determined that a dedicated department at the University of Utah was needed to focus on the study of medical care and public health, as well as to train family medicine physicians and mid-level practitioners.
On July 1, 1970, the Department of Community and Family Medicine was established, with Hilmon Castle, MD, serving as the inaugural department chair. The department's first educational initiative was the MedEx program, designed to train physician assistants. Soon after, a family medicine residency program was also introduced.
In 1972, the department was renamed to the Department of Family and Community Medicine to emphasize the importance of family-based care to the department’s research and educational missions. Throughout the 1970s, the department introduced the Master of Science in Community Medicine, later to be known as the Public Health Graduate Program, and established the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (RMCOEH).
In 1984, F. Marian Bishop, PhD was named as the second chair of the department becoming the first woman appointed as a department chair in the University of Utah’s School of Medicine. Under Dr. Bishop’s leadership, the department was renamed to its current name, the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM). Dr. Bishop served until 1995, when Michael Magill, MD was appointed as department chair.
In 2008, the department was reorganized into divisions, reflecting the growth in discipline expertise found within the department. The four divisions created were the Division of Family Medicine, the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, the Division of Physician Assistant Studies, and the Division of Public Health.
After serving the department for 22 years, Dr. Magill stepped down and Kola Okuyemi, MD, MPH, was named the fourth chair of the department in 2017. Under Dr. Okuyemi’s leadership, the department saw growth in research opportunities, awards, and funding, consistently scoring among the top five Family Medicine research departments in the nation.
In 2023, Dr. Okuyemi announced his departure from the department. University of Utah Health Chief Executive Officer Michael Good, MD, announced the department would restructure. The Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, including the RMCOEH, and the Division of Physician Assistant Studies would each gain independent status in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.
The Community Physicians Group (CPG), a collection of majority family-care providers, would join the department as part of the Division of Family Medicine. In alignment with its expanded focus, the Division of Family Medicine renamed itself to the Division of Family and Community Medicine in 2024. The department's reorganization was completed in 2024 under the interim leadership of John Barrett, MD, former executive medical director of CPG.
Throughout its many changes, the department has continued to provide Utah communities with state-of-the-art healthcare and impactful health research. The multi-faceted disciplines housed within the department examine biological, social, and environmental influences on health and well-being, and implement systems of public and personal health care to address population and primary care needs. The reach of the department has expanded from its Utah home, with programs that benefit communities across the nation and the globe.