You can probably thank a general practitioner for your last check-up.
Ask any doctor the best way to fight diseases and illnesses, and the answer will often be: prevent them from happening in the first place. Often that prevention comes in the form of regular checkups, early detection and consistent monitoring of one's health over time. These days we hear a lot about the cost of medicine: lab work, surgeries, emergency room visits and expensive specialists. Some of this stems from gaps in health insurance, with millions of uninsured people relying on emergency rooms for basic care. If they had insurance they would turn to a more conventional source for basic, preventive care: a general practitioner (GP).
Primary Care
When you have a cough or a cold or a persistent headache, chances are you won't want to go to the Emergency Room as a first resort. ER visits get very expensive very quickly. But GP's provide "Primary Care": a first point of contact to treat anyone with any basic medical concern (other than life-threatening emergencies). Many insurance plans include GP visits as part of the coverage, as a way of saving money and keeping the ER free for legitimate emergencies. A GP, by definition, does not provide specialized medical expertise, but can refer patients to specialists or other services as needed. Those specialists then report back to the GP as to your progress, keeping your medical history in one place.
Prevention
Your GP also does annual check-ups, immunizations and diagnostic tests for patients. This gives the doctor a base of long-term clients, some of whom keep coming back for years or decades... and bring their children. Some obstetrician/gynecologists also work as GPs, offering mammograms, pap smears and other preventive testing for women.
MD's vs. DO's
The United States recognizes two types of physicians: a Medical Doctor (MD) and a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO). Both degrees involve legally accepted medical and surgical methods. However, a DO generally focuses more on a patient's holistic well-being, her total health and preventive medicine. According to the American Osteopathic Association, about 65 percent of DO's provide some form of primary care. Many MD's also work as GPs, along with pediatricians and internal medicine doctors (known as internists).
Tags: also work, general practitioner, Primary Care
