The old Soviet system of highly specialized physicians and hospitals proved unsustainable to the newly independent countries of the former USSR.  The STLI Family Medicine Training program was established as part of the Manas health care reform program of Kyrgyzstan in 1997.  In a year-long clinical program, it has now graduated several classes of family physician trainers.  Retrained specialists, now teachers of family medicine, are equipping physicians throughout the country to become broad based primary care physicians in outpatient settings.