Family Medicine vs General Practice (GP)

What is family medicine? There is a large misconception about family medicine and general practice. To legally practice medicine in the USA one must finish 4 years of medical school and pass all the board exams and the complete at least 1 year of residency, which is called the intern year. Many moons ago some doctors would stop their training after their intern year and open up shop. The physicians were called general practice doctors. (GP's) However in today's world some insurance companies will not pay services provided by GP's. Also most patients want their doctor to have more training. 

So in the 1960's based on the idea of general medicine but with better training the family medicine specialty was born. The residency is 3 years of training after medical school. These doctors see patients from cradle to grave. They see it all and generally have a broad spectrum of medicine that they practice. In some rural areas the family medicine doctor is all they have and he/she will deliver babies, do pediatrics, adult medicine, geriatric medicine, etc. So the family medicine doctor is the new form of general practice doctor.

These doctor see the most amount of patients in the USA. They make up a large portion of the primary care market. They are trained in pediatrics and OB to a certain degree. In your average suburb these doctors will see entire families and take care of most of their medical needs. THey will refer out to specialists when an illness needs specialty care. For example, a family practice doctor may diagnose a patient with diabetes and start therapy and continue to manage their therapy for the majority of the patient's life. If the diabetes develops to end stage disease when certain therapies may be necessary the family doctor would then refer the patient to a specialist like an endocrinologist or a nephrologist depending on the therapy needed. 

Also family medicine doctors can continue their training after their 3 years and sub specialize in a few different areas like, sports medicine, or women's health, etc. 

This weekend I have been studying and preparing for my family medicine rotation. I have to read over a broad spectrum of cases because as a family practice doctor you can pretty much see anything in a given day. So I have been brushing up on all the basics. I will see diabetes, well baby check ups, vaccinations, school physicals, some dermatology, UTI's, pneumonia, GERD and other GI issues, headaches, hyperlipidemia and basically all other ailments. This should be an interesting rotation.