On average, a family medical physician sees ten to twenty patients per day, and spends approximately fifteen minutes of his or her workday with each patient. A family medical doctor is a primary care physician who treats men and women of all ages. More often than not, he or she treats each individual member of an entire family. Delivering comprehensive health care, the family medical physician is also responsible for prescribing and managing preventive medications for his or her patients.

In the United States, a family practitioner holds either an M.D. or a D.O. degree. He or she must complete a three-year family medicine residency, after medical school, before working as a primary care physician. Family practice can have many attractive qualities that may lead a physician to research the topic further. Family medicine physicians enjoy the luxury of pre-set, standing office hours. As physicians in other fields of medicine will attest, a set daily schedule is a rarity. While the family physician could potentially work long hours, weekends, and holidays, this is very rarely the case for family practice physicians.

Training

A family practice physician is required to complete undergraduate school, followed by medical school, and then a three-year family medicine residency. During residency, a physician will explore the many different aspects of family medicine. A family medical doctor is required, during residency, to rotate through the individual branches of family practice, including but not limited to: geriatrics, gynecology, internal medicine and pediatrics.

A family medical physician treats everyone, no matter his or her race, age, gender, or condition. Usually a specialist has focus in a certain field of practice. The family physician is a database of general, medical knowledge that allows him or her to treat the whole patient, as well as the whole family. Often working as a solo practitioner of his or her practice, a family practice physician may also choose to work as a part of an ensemble of practitioners, all within with the same facility. Most doctors spilt their daily efforts between their private practices and the community hospital.

For all intents and purposes, it has been confirmed by surveys that the family practitioner is most likely to profess that he, or she, is content in both their professional and their personal lives. The family medical doctor often enjoys the freedom of not having to commit to or depend on a community hospital to properly treat their patients. In addition, the schedule flexibility and freedom of time allows the family medical doctor to enjoy his her personal life without having to constantly be on call.

For it’s natural, family-based environment, a family practice is a great way to find balance between work and family. As mentioned previously, the hours can be great and the community involvement priceless. The on-going continued education that comes along with working daily with the people of your community can make for an enriching and fulfilling experience. As of 2007, the average salary of the family medicine career, in the United States, was $160,000 per year.

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Category: Career
Keywords: family medicine,family medicine physician,family medicine career,family medical physician