A family doctor is a multidisciplinary medical specialist who is called upon to help people of all ages with health problems – from birth to old age. In Europe, such doctors are called general practitioners.
Responsibilities of a family doctor
A general practitioner, or a family doctor, must provide outpatient medical care in many areas. General practitioners receive their patients in the clinic, where the patient goes at the initial stage of his illness. Unlike a therapist, a family doctor can carry out a lot of manipulations on his own, “with his hands”.
If in therapy there are only 2 types of instruments for determining the state of health of patients – a phonendoscope and a tonometer, then a general practitioner can, in addition to the above-mentioned manipulations, also perform laryngoscopy, otoscopy, rhinoscopy.
He is in charge of the initial stages of diseases that are usually treated by otorhinolaryngologists, for example, diseases of the ear, throat and nose, eye diseases (can examine the fundus) and many others. The family doctor is able to take and decipher the electrocardiogram, treat the wound and apply a plaster cast.
The basic education for a family doctor is the usual complete medical education with a diploma of a general practitioner or pediatrician, then a residency in the specialization of a therapist in internal medicine, as well as pediatrics. After basic education, a general practitioner must undergo retraining of medical specialists in the direction of “Family Medicine or General Medical Practice”.
The training of a family doctor allows timely diagnosis of emerging diseases of a therapeutic, cardiological, dermatological, ophthalmological, neurological, otorhinolaryngological and surgical nature. General practitioners can make a diagnosis and initiate appropriate outpatient medical treatment for the patient.
If it is necessary to be examined by narrow specialists, a good family doctor refers his patient to the appropriate doctors for consultations, and after that he continues the treatment of the patient, taking into account all the prescriptions that the patient received at the appointment with a narrow specialist.
Sometimes, after a complete diagnosis, patients require inpatient treatment, a referral to which is also issued by a family doctor.
The responsibilities of general practitioners include:
- establishing or confirming the diagnosis of the disease using various examinations, anamnesis, clinical observations of the patient and data from clinical and laboratory studies;
- observation of patients and provision of qualified and timely assistance using modern preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic methods;
- development of measures for the rehabilitation of patients with certain diseases;
- appointment and control of therapy, diagnostic procedures and rehabilitation measures;
- preparation of necessary medical expert documentation.
Benefits of Family Medicine
The specificity of the concept of “family doctor” is manifested in the absolute convenience of the patient in the event of certain health problems. A general practitioner has the skills of specialists in various fields, so he can diagnose and begin treatment of absolutely all diseases that are in the field of view of such medical specialists as a general practitioner, pediatrician, otorhinolaryngologist, neuropathologist, cardiologist, gynecologist, ophthalmologist, surgeon, traumatologist and others . It is not possible to list all the diseases or organs of the human body that can be cured at a family doctor’s appointment, but it is worth noting that this is the vast majority of common diseases of the internal organs that are often found in patients today.
Due to the fact that the general practitioner monitors the health of the entire family from children to the elderly, he is informed about the family history, which often significantly reduces the time for examining patients and making a correct diagnosis.
Among the main (but by no means the only) symptoms with which patients most often seek help from a family doctor, there are several groups:
- somatic symptoms – insomnia, depression, panic attacks;
- therapeutic symptoms – the occurrence of primary signs of colds and viral diseases, fever;
- pain in various parts of the body;
- dizziness, nausea, vomiting;
- skin problems;
- heart palpitations, increase or decrease in blood pressure;
- ailments of any nature and others.
Family doctor’s appointment
The usual reception of a general practitioner takes place on an outpatient basis, less often at home. The place of the appointment largely depends on what is required to be diagnosed during it – it is possible to conduct a diagnostic examination for an adult patient only in a polyclinic, but it is necessary to examine a newborn at home. There are many downsides to patients in outpatient care.
Firstly, the family doctor does not have the right to carry out therapeutic measures in stationary conditions, where it is possible to monitor the patient around the clock and administer drugs at the time of the day when it can most effectively act.
Therefore, in case of urgent therapeutic and surgical pathologies, patients are sent to the hospital and are already observed by other doctors.
An outpatient appointment with a family doctor will not give the proper result in the treatment of acute pathology of a narrow specialization, where it is necessary to get advice from narrow specialists – a cardiologist, rheumatologist, surgeon, immunologist and many others. And also to use modern specialized equipment in therapy, which, as a rule, is available only in specialized medical institutions. Sometimes a general practitioner cannot make a correct diagnosis and all his attempts to carry out therapy fail. In such cases, it is necessary to refer the patient for consultation, examination or hospitalization to narrow specialists.
At the same time, not all chronic diseases should be immediately treated in a hospital – for example, with hypertension or coronary heart disease, the patient does not have to be treated by a cardiologist. A qualified family doctor has the opportunity to manage patients with similar pathologies and provide them with the proper level of therapeutic and supportive measures.
In the presence of coronary heart disease, the patient may need surgical intervention at a certain stage, however, before and after it, the patient may well be guided and observed by a general practitioner.
When examining the fundus and identifying pathological processes, the family doctor necessarily sends the patient to an ophthalmologist, but after his recommendations, the general practitioner can continue to treat the patient on his own.
The level of competence that a family doctor should have is prescribed by the regulations of the medical field, which are constantly being adjusted, depending on the practical problems that these specialists have to solve at their appointments. It is important to remember that all diseases that can be treated and identified without surgical or other intervention in human health can be cured at the appointment of a family doctor.