Family medicine refers to a specialty area of the medical field that focuses on care and treatment of individuals of all age groups, regardless of their health or socioeconomic status. Encompassing internal, geriatric, and family medicine, primary healthcare covers several professions, including medical doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, all of which are referred to as primary care providers. Educational institutions offer family medicine programs for training in these different fields.
Chief goals of family medicine and primary care in general are health promotion and prevention, as well as cost-effective maintenance of common health care problems such as diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. Patients also visit these medical professionals for routine physical check-ups and immunizations for work or school. Primary care providers are typically the point of entry into the healthcare system, and patients can then be referred to specialists when needed.
Typically, after the completion of medical school, new doctors must fulfill some kind of additional requirement such as a residency or internship for a specified number of years in a specialty area of medicine. Schools offer family medicine programs to doctors attending clerkship training beyond standard medical school who are planning to practice in this field. Payment is usually provided for resident doctors, requiring successful completion of clinical rotations lasting approximately two months each in areas of family medicine, including emergency room and geriatrics.
Physician assistants (PAs) complete family medicine programs to obtain a license to practice medicine under the supervision of a medical doctor. Referred to as family practice and primary care programs, PA schools provide medical training qualifying students to diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications to patients of all ages. PA programs follow a medical model which educates future physician assistants in half the time required to complete medical school. This does vary and depends upon the location of the school, as programs exist in all parts of the world, such as the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
Nurse practitioners (NPs) perform many of the same duties of PAs, but are allowed to practice independently of doctors, as they are registered nurses (RNs) with advanced degrees in nursing. Family medicine programs in the advanced practice area of nursing train nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists (CNS), experts in specialties in nursing. Awarding a master's or doctorate degree, a typical course of study of these programs includes research methods and approaches, family nursing theory, and health promotion. NPs working in this specialty are referred to as family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and clinical nurse specialists carry the title corresponding to the particular populations that they serve or their specialty area, such as the home health clinical nurse specialist (HHCNS).