What kind of physician are there

A visit to the family doctor is typically the first step in the treatment process. For example, you might go because you have poison ivy and need a prescription. With a few exceptions, insurance should cover visits to your family doctor. Some family doctors provide services such as smoking cessation counseling that not every insurance company covers. An internist is a doctor only for adults.

A family medicine doctor can treat people of all ages, but an internist only treats older adolescents and adults. Like a family medicine doctor, an internist treats most common medical issues, from sprains and strains to diabetes. If your condition is beyond their scope, they may refer you to a specialist. Their residency training includes a variety of specialties in adult medicine from cardiology to endocrinology to palliative care.

An internist is a first-line source of treatment. If you are in need of medical treatment or supervision and are an adult, you may turn to an internist first. Your internist is trained to treat almost any condition you may develop throughout your adult life.

Internists can treat minor issues like a sinus infection or broken wrist. They can also treat and supervise treatment for more serious conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and high cholesterol. Most visits to your internist will be covered by your insurance. But some internists provide services that may not be covered by your insurance.

These include mental health counseling and weight loss counseling. All individuals need a home base for medical purposes. Having an office where you are known and a doctor you can trust to provide you with care is of utmost importance.

Protect yourself against high medical bills by establishing yourself as a member of a practice that you like and trust. This guarantees your family doctor will accept your insurance. Next, ask your friends and family for recommendations.

An in-person visit is the best way to decide if a doctor is right for you. Make an appointment and bring a list of questions that may help you be prepared for that talk.

Choosing a doctor whose office is across town may make it difficult to get to appointments on time, especially when you are sick. Keep reading to learn more about some common doctors you may need to see in your lifetime. Learn about the different kinds of mental health professionals and how they can help you. Pediatricians specialize in caring for children, from birth through early adulthood. Their area of focus overlaps with family medicine doctors — who also see children from babies to young adults.

Pediatricians are also experienced in talking with children and helping them feel comfortable — a big plus if your child is shy or scared of going to the doctor. The unique benefit of family doctors is that they care for your whole family.

They see babies, children, parents and grandparents. No matter who in your family is sick, you have one person to call who knows your family history and can provide highly personalized care. Because they treat a variety of patients, family doctors have a wide range of experience.

They know how to communicate with patients of all ages, from toddlers to the elderly. A family medicine doctor can be a convenient option for busy parents who want to take care of multiple family appointments on the same day.

Internal medicine-pediatrics doctors are two types of doctors in one. These doctors care for kids and adults, and can help prevent, treat and diagnose diseases.

Many patients consider a med-peds doctor because they appreciate knowing their physician has a dual board certification as both a pediatrician and an internist. Given their broad expertise, med-peds may be the primary care doctor for your entire family, even if someone in your crew has medical conditions that require specialized care. They can practice within a primary care clinic or a specialty office. OB-GYNs assist with everything from family planning to helping you choose from available birth control options.

Suburban or rural areas are often better suited for solo practice because of significant medical need and less competition from other medical resources.

Additionally, some local hospitals affiliate and support solo practices financially or with other services, such as access to electronic medical records to help maintain their own patient base. Group practices are typically divided into single-specialty and multispecialty practices. The defining characteristic of single-specialty practice is the presence of two or more physicians providing patients with one specific type of care i.

Some advantages of group practices are increased financial security and better control of lifestyle. Because of the larger number of physicians and increased size of the patient base, group practices are usually better able to accept and manage financial risk than solo practices. Group practices may also be able to provide more employee benefits than are feasible in a solo practice, although often less than what may be available in employed physician organizations.

Group practices also usually have the resources to manage the administrative tasks associated with running a practice, relieving the individual provider from the need to do this alone. Additionally, the increased number of physicians in a group spreads the burden of covering clinical care in the hospital, at nights, and on weekends across a greater number of people, allowing more flexibility in scheduling relative to a solo practice.

Despite these advantages, autonomy and decision-making ability decrease with the size of any group, increasing the risk for conflict around significant practice issues.

Larger practices may also tend to become more bureaucratic and policy driven, and this may be seen as a disadvantage.

Increasingly, physicians are being employed within one of several practice models. Some hospitals may purchase and manage existing solo or group practices, or may directly hire physicians to work in their inpatient facility or ambulatory clinics. Health care corporations may own and run clinics with employed physicians. And some physician-run groups are structured on an employment model, where a group practice is structured more like a corporation that employs clinicians instead of pursuing a more traditional partnership model.

An advantage of being an employed physician is that much of the administrative burden of running a practice is shifted to the employing entity, allowing clinicians to focus more on practicing medicine.

Additionally, a baseline level of compensation is usually assured, although productivity demands and productivity-based incentives may be significant.

Because the organizations employing physicians tend to be larger, they usually have more resources than solo or independent group practices. Clinically, this usually means reasonable coverage for clinical responsibilities and improved control of lifestyle. This larger size and increased resources may also translate into more robust support services and opportunities for further education and training.

The downside of being an employed physician is that physician autonomy may be substantially diminished relative to other practice models. Scheduling and productivity expectations may be beyond your control, and policies and procedures may be developed by others without your input. There may be less clinical flexibility due to limitations of referrals and facilities based on the employing organization. Additionally, there may be other expectations as an employed physician, such as serving on committees or participating in other organizational activities.