Family medicine is the system for preventing diseases and providing medical care to the whole family and individual family members independently of their age and gender. This system is based on the principles of long-term and continuous surveillance of a family and primary care by one physician. The main objectives of family medicine are prevention measures and coordination between the family doctor with specialized professionals.
Why do we need a family doctor?
A family doctor provides the first aid in different fields of medicine, for example, cardiovascular diseases, ENT-diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological and other problems. For this reason, this doctor should have deep knowledge and broad outlook, analytical skills and skills for systematic analysis. The family doctor monitors the growth and development of the children in a family. Possessing fundamental pediatric knowledge, this doctor is able to spot diseases at early stages and thus increase the therapeutic effect of treatment.
A family doctor is a link between a family and a specialized doctor. It is the family doctor who performs communication and action coordination.
This type of professional can take care of the following widespread problems:
- ARVI and different cold-related diseases;
- Fatigue, including chronic fatigue;
- Cardiovascular diseases;
- Gastrointestinal diseases;
- Connective tissue diseases;
- Neurological problems;
- Metabolic disorders;
- Lung diseases;
- Kidney diseases.
Responsibilities of family doctor are as follows:
- Collection of medical history (obtain information about patient’s disease, analysis of health complaints, history of the present illness);
- Application of objective examination methods (physical examination of a patient, including percussion, auscultation, palpation);
- Identification of special diagnostic techniques (for example, laboratory tests or X-Ray);
- Note down the information on the patient’s diagnosis and treatment to the medical record;
- Determine the indicators for hospitalization (for example, if a surgery is needed);
- Identify risk factors for chronic diseases;
- Issuing a sickness certificate;
- Prescription of medicines or other treatment options.
How does a family doctor work?
At an appointment, the doctor enquires about the complaints, reasons for previous visits to a healthcare facility, learns about the medical history (interviewing), performs a physical examination. After the primary consultation, the doctor issues a referral for tests (blood, urine tests, cardiogram etc.). Basing on the results of the performed physical examination, analysis of the test results, the physician prescribes treatment or, if necessary, a referral to another doctor who specializes in a specific area (for example, if the increased blood sugar levels are detected – he refers patient to endocrinologist).
When do you need to visit your family doctor?
You should visit a family doctor when you have he following symptoms:
- Fever;
- Dry and wet cough, rattling sounds, sore throat;
- Labored breathing;
- Reduced vision acuity, loss of vision;
- Specific nasal discharge;
- Otalgia, loss of hearing, ear discharge;
- Heart and chest pain;
- Abdominal pain, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation;
- High or low blood pressure;
- Insomnia, anxiety, depression;
- Lower back pain;
- Increased fatigue, constant thirst.
Generally, you can visit this specialist with any type of problems. If you need a qualified family doctor, contact our Center, and we’ll help you with choosing the best specialist.