What is primary care? Part 1

What is the meaning of Family Medicine?

As the name suggests, a family physician can take care of your entire family – from the day of your birth (even before!) to your last day on Earth, as I like to say! During our post-medical school residency years, we are trained by many different types of doctors including pediatricians, OB/GYNs, surgeons, psychiatrists, neurologists, ENTs and more. Therefore, family physicians are trained to do minor surgical procedures in the office, care for kids and adults, provide various GYN services, among many other comprehensive services for patients. Some family doctors choose to do a fellowship and are trained more specifically to do more advanced surgical procedures, deliver babies (including C-sections), work on public policy and advocacy, work in an emergency room, and the list goes on. I love family medicine because as family physicians, we can be trained to provide care for patients in many different settings. Some family doctors work in a residency training program where they may see patients in the hospital, out of the hospital, and deliver babies. Other family doctors only see patients in their clinics. The broad basis of our training allows family doctors to follow their interests, which is really nice!