Family Medicine

A family medicine doctor specializes in the comprehensive prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for a wide range of conditions. Family medicine is a broad specialty that focuses on your general, overall health rather than one type of disease or condition. Family medicine specialists often serve as a primary care doctor, providing preventive and therapeutic care services for the entire family through all stages of life.

Family medicine doctors treat a wide variety of conditions and often consult with other members of the patient’s medical team. A family doctor typically:

• Evaluates a patient’s medical history and teaches the patient about wellness and disease prevention
• Diagnoses and treats acute diseases and conditions including infections and injuries
• Screens, treats and monitors a range of chronic physical conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disease, heart disease, and depression
• Orders and interprets laboratory and imaging tests and prescribes medications
• Performs minor surgical procedures and assists with major procedures
• Provides cancer screenings, such as skin and thyroid exams
• Performs reproductive health screenings including pelvic exams, Pap smears, breast exams, and sexually transmitted disease screenings
• Provides care, in some cases, for women during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and after delivery
• Provides family planning and contraceptive counseling including birth control prescriptions

Family medicine doctors may also be known by the following names: family physician, family practice doctor, family practitioner, family medicine physician, family medicine specialist, family doctor, primary care physician (pcp), and general practitioner.

Any person can see a family medicine doctor, including infants, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Family medicine doctors care for patients throughout their life, and often serves as the patient’s entry point into the healthcare system. If you do not currently have a doctor who provides you with routine primary care services, find an experienced family medicine doctor near you today to take the best care of your health. 

You should see a family medicine doctor once a year for a general health exam to monitor your height and weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, vaccination status, and lifestyle-related habits, including smoking and exercise. Your primary care doctor is a preventive care expert and is also highly skilled at recognizing emerging health problems.

Other reasons for you or a family member to see a family medicine specialist include the following symptoms or conditions: 

• Abnormal weight gain or loss
• Chronic or acute pain
• Digestive problems, such as blood in your stools, vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation that lasts for more than a few days
• Engagement in high-risk behaviors including excessive use of alcohol or illegal drugs and high-risk sexual behaviors, such as multiple sexual partners and not using condoms
• Headaches that occur frequently and are accompanied by other symptoms, such as fever and coughing
• High fever (for adults, higher than 103 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Mild wheezing or shortness of breath (you should seek immediate emergency care for moderate to severe shortness of breath)
• Minor injuries that you cannot treat at home with bandages and antiseptic cream
• Unexplained fatigue or weakness
• Unusual anxiety, stress, sadness, or other emotional problems

If your doctor is not sure of a diagnosis or you need more focused care, he or she will refer you to another specialist.

A family medicine doctor treats conditions and diseases that involve your mental, emotional and physical health including:

• Chronic diseases and conditions including high blood pressure, osteoporosis, asthma, allergies, arthritis, and diabetes
• Infections including bacterial infections and viral infections, such as influenza and pneumonia
• Mental, emotional and behavioral conditions and disorders including attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism disorders, social anxiety, and depression
• Minor injuries including small lacerations as well as minor bone, muscle and joint injuries (sprains, strains and fractures)
• Sexual health including menopause, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), sexual dysfunction, and sexual assault and violence against women
• Skin problems including minor burns and rashes
• Weight problems including obesity and malnutrition

For complex cases and serious medical conditions, a family doctor may recommend you see a different type of specialist, such as an orthopedic surgeon for a joint injury. 

A family medicine doctor can order or perform a wide variety of diagnostic and screening tests for chronic and acute health issues. These tests include:

• Abuse screening including evaluations for physical, sexual and mental abuse
• Cancer screening including a skin cancer check, breast exam, Pap smear, rectal exam, and fecal occult blood test (to look for blood in stool). Your doctor will take care of necessary referrals for other tests, such as colonoscopy and mammography.
• General health tests including blood oxygen level (pulse oximetry) and blood pressure
• Imaging tests including X-ray, CT (computed tomography) scan, and ultrasound
• Laboratory tests including complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, blood glucose (sugar) test, liver function tests, cholesterol panel, and thyroid hormone tests. Lab tests also include drug, alcohol and toxicology tests to check for drug abuse or poisoning.
• Mental health screening for depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorder
• Physical growth and development assessments to evaluate weight range and growth rate
• Reproductive health tests including pelvic exam and sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests
• Vision and hearing screening to determine vision acuity and hearing levels

Family medicine doctors order or perform various procedures and treatments to manage an array of health conditions. They often provide referrals to surgeons and other specialists to diagnose and treat conditions they cannot treat themselves. Common procedures and treatments include:  

• Chronic disease management including diabetes, thyroid disease, and depression
• Family planning prescriptions and treatments including oral contraceptives, hormone patches and shots, and intrauterine devices (IUDs)
• General health procedures including physical examination and immunization
• Healthy lifestyle counseling including eating habits, exercise, and smoking
• Injury-related procedures including immobilizing sprains
• Labor and delivery procedures including vaginal birth and cesarean section (C-section)
• Medication administration including antibiotic injections for bacterial infections, intravenous fluid for dehydration, and breathing treatments for asthma and emphysema
• Mental health and behavioral treatment including counseling for bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, and ADHD
• Minor surgical procedures including removal of foreign objects, such as splinters, wart removal, minor laceration stitches, and stitch or staple removal

When choosing a family medicine doctor, keep in mind this doctor may likely be your main healthcare provider throughout your life. To increase the likelihood of receiving excellent care, choose a doctor who is board certified in family medicine. A doctor may practice family medicine without becoming board certified in the specialty, but board certification indicates the doctor has up-to-date medical education and training in family medicine.

After completing a multiyear residency involving hands-on clinical experience, eligible MDs and DOs must pass an exam administered by a certifying board. A doctor must participate in the Board’s ongoing certification program to maintain board certification The doctor’s training, insurance information, and patient reviews will help you make a great choice.

Doctors who earn board certification in family medicine can pursue certification in a subspecialty. Board certification requires additional training beyond the residency program, as well as a passing an exam. The additional training is sometimes known as a fellowship. Subspecialties of family medicine include:

• Adolescent medicine focuses on the physical, mental and emotional health of teenagers.
• Geriatric medicine focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of conditions occurring in the elderly.
• Hospice and palliative medicine focuses on preventing and treating the suffering of people with critical or life-limiting illnesses such as cancer.
• Sleep medicine focuses on diagnosing and managing health conditions that prevent sleep, occur during sleep, or result from a lack of sleep.
• Sports medicine focuses on diagnosing, treating, and preventing sports injuries as well as managing conditions that affect participation in sports and other physical activities.
• Undersea and hyperbaric medicine (osteopathic) focuses on treating oxygen-deprivation diseases and conditions, including decompression illness, non-healing wounds, and carbon monoxide poisoning.