The role
What a family medicine physician actually does, day to day.
As a family medicine physician, you are the first doctor people visit when they get ill or have a health worry. You see patients of all ages - from babies to older people - and you treat everything from infections and injuries to conditions like diabetes that need long-term care. You get to know your patients and their families well, and you help them make good decisions about their health.
Most days you will examine patients, listen to what's wrong, run tests if you need to, and decide on treatment. You might diagnose flu one moment and then talk to a patient about how to manage their asthma the next. You work with nurses and other doctors to give people the care they need. You also give advice about healthy eating, exercise and how to avoid getting ill in the first place. The work keeps you busy and you never know quite what the next patient will bring.
Day to day
Other interesting careers
Periodontists are dental specialists who treat gum disease and keep teeth healthy and strong.
Oral Surgeons are pivotal in transforming lives through advanced dental procedures and surgical interventions that enhance oral...
Medically qualified homeopaths are doctors who treat illness by understanding the whole person - their body, mind and life.
Paediatricians are doctors who look after children from when they are born until they are teenagers.