Primary health care

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Primary care may be provided in community health centres.

In medicine, primary care is a term used for a health care provider who acts as a first point of consultation for all patients. Generally, primary care physicians are based in the community, as opposed to the hospital. Alternative names for the field are general practice and family medicine, although the terms are not synonymous.

General practitioners in the UK are physicians who have completed four years of post-medical school training including three years based in hospitals and one-year attached to a training general practitioner in the community.

Family Medicine, in the USA, is a specialty that requires a minimum of three years of residency training and Board Certification. This specialty is considered the traditional general medicine specialty in the US.

Examples of diseases managed in primary care are:

• Diabetes mellitus
• COPD
• Depression
• Back pain

Primary care physicians usually include family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, and at times OB/GYN physicians. It is important to note, however, that the last three of the above specialties are not technically general medicine specialties. These specialties are primary care, but NOT general medicine.

References and external links

• Defining Primary Care from Institute of Medicine IOM - Primary Care: America's Health in a New Era (1996)
• Primary Care Definitions from American Academy of Family Physicians AAFP
• Definition of Primary Care from American Medical Association AMA
• Defining primary health care Department of Health United Kingdom UK
• What is primary health care? Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) Australia
• National Association of Primary Care

eo:primara prizorgo nl:Huisarts pt:Medicina de família e comunidade