Michelle Park considered it a calling, a mission, when she decided to pursue a career in family medicine.

"I personally didn't go to medical school for money. You can make a lot more money with less pain, suffering and sleep deprivation," said Park, a third-year resident in family practice and psychiatry at UC Davis Medical Center.

Judging from the numbers, few aspiring doctors share Park's passion.

In 2008, California's eight medical schools produced 1,070 new doctors, 87 of them becoming residents in family medicine, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Of the 90 medical students graduating that year from the University of California, Davis, a mere 10 opted for family medicine, while just two of Stanford's 97 graduates did so.

The nation's critical shortage of primary care physicians could strain efforts to overhaul its health care system. Getting everyone in the country insured won't do much good if there aren't enough primary care doctors to take care of them, say leaders of consumer and medical groups.

"Just giving people health insurance does not give them health care, unless we have the types and number of doctors they can go to for basic primary care," said Dr. Ted Epperly, a family physician in Boise, Idaho, and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Enticed by higher salaries and the prospect of less paperwork, the vast majority of medical students – now about nine in 10 – opt for specialty careers, such as cosmetic surgery.

The typical family practioner earns $150,000 annually, according to the academy. Specialists can earn two to five times that amount, sometimes even more.

For years, the state has been trying to bolster the ranks of general practice doctors, pumping money into family practice programs.

Last week, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development announced $2.7 million in grants, including $206,000 to UC Davis, to promote its efforts to recruit more primary care doctors.

"We need to find them and train them," said Dr. Thomas Balsbaugh, associate professor of medicine at UC Davis. "I think it has to start with how you recruit medical students out of college."

Balsbaugh, himself a family practitioner, sells the job to students as a call to public service.

"It fulfilled in me everything I thought being a doctor was," he said of his career path. "It's about service."

The United States has about 100,000 family practitioners, and the academy says 40,000 more will be needed by 2020, partly because of the aging population of baby boomers.

To meet the state's surging medical needs, particularly in underserved rural areas, the University of California is developing a medical school at its Riverside campus.

"We have a total crisis in primary care," Epperly said.

While details have yet to be fully developed, health care legislation pending in Congress aims to increase incentives for primary care physicians – family doctors, pediatricians, general internists and geriatricians – who are the workhorses of the country's medical corps.

Draft provisions in federal overhaul legislation would provide scholarships and loans. They would bolster work force development programs and streamline the administrative burdens that make the job of a primary care physician less attractive.

Perhaps most importantly, draft overhaul legislation attempts to boost compensation, albeit modestly, to doctors who treat patients under Medicare and other government health programs.

Some medical schools have sought applicants who have a history of volunteerism, hoping that strong values for public service will lead them to consider careers in primary care.

Primary care doctors are the foundation of so-called "medical homes" – an emerging movement in the health care industry that seeks to create a stronger relationship between doctors and patients, in which the patient's health care needs are addressed comprehensively. Think Marcus Welby, M.D., from the 1970s television show, transported to the modern age of electronic medical records.

"The goal is to provide the services and information a patient needs to be as healthy as they can be," said Balsbaugh, the UC Davis doctor.

Primary care physicians are generalists who are required to have extensive knowledge of the human body and its functions. "A family physician's knowledge is broad and encompasses a much larger area," said Epperly. A specialist, he said, "has knowledge that may be deeper, but in just a very narrow area.

"The true art of medicine is in trying to develop a deep, close relationship with people over time to effect maximum health," Epperly said. "Its magic is in the breadth of knowledge, that takes life from the first breath at birth to the last breath at death, and every breath in between."

Call The Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan, (916) 321-1067.