Family Medicine

There are multiple specialties within Primary Care. Here's a quick run-down of all of them:​

Internal Medicine: focuses only on adult patients, and the majority of their training is hospital-based instead of in a clinic. They can provide excellent care, but get less procedural or OB/GYN training, and no pediatrics.​

Pediatrics: focuses only on pediatric patients. While they are able to care for patients up to 21 years old, often they remain an "18 or below" option. They are excellent physicians, but care must be taken when transitioning to an adult doctor to make sure nothing is missed. A tool such as Got Transition can help both you as well as your healthcare provider with the switch to "adult medicine"

Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB/GYN): Specialized surgeons and experts in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth, many people prefer to get preventative care with their OB/GYN. Unfortunately they get the least amount of training to be primary care physicians, and typically should only be used to supplement care with one of the other options.

Family Medicine: The only truly outpatient specialty, we are explicitly trained to be primary care physicians. We get training in OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Adult care, and are experts in bridging communication between specialists. Many family physicians deliver children, perform procedures in-office, and have intimate knowledge in how best to navigate the ever-changing landscape of healthcare. This keeps as much care under one roof as possible, so that everyone in the household can have the same doctor.

​For more information, and to find a Family Physician near you, follow this link to the American Board of Family Medicine.