History

In 1989, John L. Pfenninger, MD founded The National Procedures Institute (NPI) to teach outpatient diagnostic and therapeutic procedural skills to primary care physicians. The philosophy behind NPI emphasizes care for the whole patient, not just the classroom mechanics of the procedure. In 2008, Dr. Pfenninger sold NPI to a joint venture of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Pfenninger remains active with NPI as a senior consultant.

The National Procedures Institute promotes research, CME medical conferences, and teaching aids to enhance medical care and to assist physicians incorporating comprehensive procedural services into their medical practice.

Mission and Rationale

The mission of The National Procedures Institute (NPI) is to promote quality, cost-effective patient care by providing continuing medical education (CME conferences) on procedural skills for primary care physicians.

By learning procedural skills, primary care physicians improve continuity of care, provide care that is more comprehensive, reduce liability risks, and enjoy an enhanced practice style. It is our goal for physicians to experience a more satisfying career and for patients to benefit from more personal, high quality advanced medical care.

Founder

John L. Pfenninger, M.D., is a nationally recognized speaker among primary care physicians. He has addressed large medical audiences, appeared on Lifetime Medical Television, and serves as teaching faculty for the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan and the editor of the comprehensive and best-selling text Procedures for Primary Care Physicians (Mosby, 1994) and the second edition, Pfenninger and Fowler’s Procedures for Primary Care (Mosby 2003, 224 Chapters) on procedural skills. He has published extensively and has expertise on a wide variety of topics.

A practicing physician and author, Dr. Pfenninger remains active in family medicine resident education, and is recognized as a leader in the field of continuing medical education. He presents at more than fifty courses annually, and has addressed audiences in 37 states, Amsterdam, Singapore, Taiwan, Mexico, and South Africa. He is also the President and Director of the Medical Procedures Center (MPC), his private practice office. Dr. Pfenninger limits his practice to the full range of office surgery and procedures.