4 Questions to Ask Your Family Doctor

Family doctors provide primary medical care services to families and individuals, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. As such, a family doctor is the first point of contact for individuals with any health-related concern they or a member of their family are experiencing. Family doctors can evaluate a patient’s symptoms, diagnose an illness or condition, treat an injury or illness, prescribe medication, conduct physical examinations, administer vaccinations, provide specialist referrals, run laboratory tests, and much more.

The main difference between a family care doctor and an internal medicine doctor has to do with the age range of the patients they treat. While family care doctors are able to treat children and adults of any age, internal medicine doctors exclusively treat adults.

As a result, the subspecialties between family medicine doctors and internal medicine doctors are also different, as family medicine doctors have added training and expertise in pediatrics, and often in obstetrics and gynecology, as well. In contrast, internal medicine doctors have more comprehensive and in-depth training and understanding of adult medical issues.

With that in mind, if you have a family, you may find it much more convenient and practical to have a family care doctor instead of an internal medicine doctor so that your entire family can be seen by the same medical provider.

There are numerous procedures that family medicine doctors can do, including both surgical and non-invasive procedures. Depending on the subspecialties of a family medicine doctor, some of the procedures that many family medicine doctors are able to perform include the following:

• Abscess incision and drainage
• Botox injections and other cosmetic or dermatological procedures
• Caesarean and vaginal delivery
• Colposcopia
• Colonoscopies
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) services
• Endoscopies
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
• Joint and soft-tissue injections
• Maternal, pre-and post-natal care
• Medical weight loss
• Intrauterine device (IUD) placement for contraception and birth control
• Pap smear
• Psychiatric services
• Radiology services, such as computerized tomography (CT) scans, medical resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray services
• Sexually transmitted disease and infection (STD and STI) treatment and testing
• Skin biopsies
• Suturing lacerations
• Treatments for acute and chronic injuries, conditions, or illnesses
• Ultrasound imaging
• Vasectomies
• And more!

While family medicine is a primary care service, it is not interchangeable with primary care, as there are several other medical practices that are also considered primary care service. Other medical practices that are regarded as primary care services include general practice, geriatric medicine, gynecology, internal medicine, obstetrics, and pediatric medicine.

If you are looking for a family care clinic, we welcome you to come to North Tex MedCare Clinic and Urgent Care! For an appointment, please feel free to call us, schedule one through our website, or visit our clinic for a walk-in appointment. We serve patients from Allen TX, Fort Worth TX, San Antonio TX, Addison TX, Plano TX, Frisco TX, Terrell Hills TX, Carrollton TX, Richardson TX, China Grove TX, Farmers Branch TX, Hebron TX, Forest Hill TX, Leon Valley TX, Fairview TX, Parker TX, Lucas TX and BEYOND.