Which Primary Care Doctor is best for me?

Choos­ing a pri­ma­ry care provider

Your pri­ma­ry care physi­cian, also com­mon­ly known as a PCP, is your main health care provider and is involved in your short and long-term med­ical care. Your PCP pro­vides pre­ven­tive care, teach­es healthy lifestyle choic­es, iden­ti­fies and treats com­mon med­ical con­di­tions, assess­es the urgency of your med­ical prob­lems and refers you to med­ical spe­cial­ists when necessary.

To deter­mine which type of pri­ma­ry care doc­tor is best for you can some­times be a dif­fi­cult task, as the focus of each type of physi­cian is some­what dif­fer­ent. Below are some help­ful facts to assist you in choos­ing the doc­tor that’s best for you and your family.

Pedi­a­tri­cians

Pedi­a­tri­cians are physi­cians trained to care for new­borns, infants, chil­dren, and ado­les­cents up to the age of 18. They attend four years of med­ical school fol­lowed by three years of res­i­den­cy train­ing that is focused exclu­sive­ly on the dis­eases and ill­ness­es that affect chil­dren. They pro­vide both pre­ven­tive care for healthy chil­dren and treat chil­dren who are injured or ill. They spe­cial­ize in child­hood dis­eases, growth, and emo­tion­al health.

Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine Doctors

Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine physi­cians are trained to care for patients of all ages, from infants to the elder­ly. They attend four years of med­ical school fol­lowed by three years of res­i­den­cy train­ing that is focused on care for the whole fam­i­ly. Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine physi­cians pro­vide pre­ven­tive care, diag­nose and treat ill­ness­es, and man­age chron­ic and com­plex con­di­tions over a patien­t’s entire lifetime.

Inter­nal Med­i­cine Doctors

Inter­nal Med­i­cine physi­cians are trained to care for adult patients from late teens to the elder­ly. They attend four years of med­ical school fol­lowed by three years of res­i­den­cy train­ing that is focused exclu­sive­ly on the dis­eases and ill­ness­es that affect adults. Inter­nal med­i­cine physi­cians pro­vide pre­ven­tive care, diag­nose and treat acute and chron­ic med­ical con­di­tions and man­age all med­ical needs in a patien­t’s adult years.

Sim­i­lar­i­tiesDif­fer­ences
Pedi­a­tri­cians & Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine DoctorsBoth Pedi­a­tri­cians and Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine physi­cians care for new­borns, infants, chil­dren, and ado­les­cents. They pro­vide pre­ven­tive care such as rou­tine check-ups and immu­niza­tions, as well as diag­nose, treat, and man­age acute and chron­ic illnesses.While Pedi­a­tri­cians spe­cial­ize exclu­sive­ly in man­ag­ing the health care of chil­dren — new­borns to ado­les­cents — Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine physi­cians are trained to care for patients of all ages — from infants to the elderly.
Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine & Inter­nal Med­i­cine DoctorsBoth Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine and Inter­nal Med­i­cine physi­cians care for adult patients from late teens to the elder­ly. They pro­vide pre­ven­tive health­care and diag­nose, treat and man­age a vari­ety of ill­ness­es and conditions.While Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine physi­cians spe­cial­ize in car­ing for the whole fam­i­ly, includ­ing chil­dren, Inter­nal Med­i­cine physi­cians focus exclu­sive­ly on car­ing for adult patients.

No mat­ter what PCP you choose at Duly Health and Care, all of our physi­cians are high­ly trained and strive to pro­vide the best care for you and your family!

Find a pedi­a­tri­cian, inter­nal med­i­cine or fam­i­ly med­i­cine doc­tor near you today >

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