Family Practice
General Practitioner (GP), Family Practitioner (FP), Primary Care
Physicians and Surgeons M.D. Guide
City of Napa, Napa Valley, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA 94558, 94559

primary care. A GP/FP treats acute and chronic illnesses, provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. Some also care for hospitalized patients, do minor surgery and/or obstetrics, where they have hospital privileges. However, in the past, they were required to do much more important surgeries, such as tonsillectomies, hernia repairs, and appendectomies. For instance, it was common for a General Practitioner to operate if a patient had an extremely painful hernia, or an acute appendicitis. Frequently, they will remove minor skin lesions surgically. There has been a steady decrease in family physicians in the last few decades, due to the long work hours and little pay compared to most specialists.

In the United States, a general practitioner has completed the one-year internship required to obtain a medical license, after having received at least an undergraduate Baccalaureate degree and a four-year M.D. Doctor of Medicine or a D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. A physician who specializes in family medicine (also known as a family physician), however, has completed a three-year family medicine residency in addition to the undergraduate and doctoral studies, and is eligible for the board certification now required by most hospitals and health plans.

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