When you think of family medicine doctors, what comes to mind? Many people might think of childhood check-ups and vaccinations, but family medicine doctors do a lot more than that. In fact, family doctors are general practitioners who provide care for patients of all ages.
So, what exactly does a family medicine doctor do?
Family Medicine Qualifications
Family physicians are doctors who studied and worked for at least three years after medical school. They could be Doctors of Medicine (MDs) Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs).
All family physicians have special training in primary care. In the course of their training, they become skilled at adult medicine, pediatric medicine, preventive care, and women’s healthcare. This means they can take care of each member of your family and approximately 80-90% of the health problems that they might have.
Routine Care and Chronic Disease Management
Family doctors typically see their patients at least once per year for annual check-ups, sometimes called wellness visits. Wellness visits are opportunities to check cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar level, and other health attributes in order to screen for diseases. They are also a chance for family medicine doctors to have conversations with you. Knowing about your diet, physical activities, stress levels, and recent life changes helps them understand your health holistically, anticipate possible future health concerns, and give appropriate guidance.
There are specialized wellness visits for women and children called well woman visits and well child visits. Well woman visits include additional pelvic exams, breast exams, and often birth control counseling. Well child visits are opportunities to keep your child’s immunization up to date and monitor growth and development.
In addition to routine check-ups, family medicine doctors help their patients manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This is achieved by coaching diet and other lifestyle changes, prescribing effective medications, and monitoring lab test results.
Here, the whole body approach that many family medicine doctors take really pays off. Their knowledge might even be based on what they know of other family members who may also be patients, giving a fuller picture of lifestyle and family history. Because doctors who practice family medicine have such a deep understanding of you as an individual, they can create the best possible treatment plan tailored specifically to you.
Acute Care
Another service that family medicine doctors provide is acute symptom management. Their broad training as primary care physicians gives them the ability to diagnose and treat a wide variety of acute conditions, including rashes, shoulder pain, migraines, food poisoning, and even COVID-19.
At some point, your chronic disease may progress or you might present with an acute condition that your family doctor can’t take care of. In such a situation, family medicine doctors provide a different but also valuable service – connecting you to the right specialist by writing a referral. If your symptoms are particularly serious, your family medicine doctor may recommend that you go straight to the emergency room.
Family doctors will request your medical records from your specialists or the emergency room so that they can continue keeping a full and accurate record of your health. This will help them continue giving you excellent, personalized primary care for years to come.
A Great Option for You and Your Loved Ones
You may have great memories of your childhood family doctor, and we wouldn’t be surprised. After all, your family medicine doctor is more than just a primary care provider. They take an honest, holistic approach by considering every aspect of you. These doctors help you take care of your health by providing services such as annual check-ups, chronic disease management, acute disease management, medicine prescribing, and referrals to specialists when needed.
If that sounds like the type of person you want caring for you and your family’s well-being, then we invite you to meet our doctors!
