A 45-item survey assessing the need for knowledge and skills in clinical problems commonly encountered in physical medicine and rehabilitation was sent to 300 randomly selected family practitioners in the state of Indiana. The purpose of this survey was to determine the clinical needs self-perception of these physicians to help design a physical medicine and rehabilitation curriculum that would be the most relevant to medical students in light of today's emphasis on primary care. Another purpose of the study was to compare the responses with those of a similar survey done among Ohio general practitioners in 1974. The family physicians gave the highest scores in terms of overall need to those items most frequently encountered in practice, especially musculoskeletal problems. They tended to rank much lower those clinical problems that they typically refer to other specialists for care. This survey and the one in 1974 showed remarkably similar results. Only a few items showed considerable change in their overall rank or need. Carpal tunnel syndrome and prescription of wheelchairs, canes, and assistive devices both rose in importance in this survey. Items that were ranked lower in importance on this survey than in 1974 included juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; the use of modalities, such as ultrasound, diathermy, and paraffin; cardiac rehabilitation; stroke rehabilitation; and chronic lung rehabilitation. Although this self-assessment tool provides pertinent and very useful information regarding curricular needs, it cannot be the only source of information in this regard. The chief drawback of such self-assessment instruments is that they show only what primary care physicians need currently and do not necessarily reflect what will be needed in the future.