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Family Medicine

Family medicine is the foundation of care at WCMC. It is the medical specialty which provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. It is a specialty in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system and every disease entity. We believe that medical care is best ministered with your Family Doctor as your partner in your health care.

Quality healthcare in family medicine is the achievement of optimal physical and mental health through accessible, safe, cost-effective care that is based on best evidence, responsive to the needs and preferences of patients and populations, and respectful of patients’ families, personal values, and beliefs.

Family medicine is the natural evolution of historical medical practice. The first physicians were generalists. For thousands of years, generalists provided all of the medical care available. They diagnosed and treated illnesses, performed surgery, and delivered babies. As medical knowledge expanded and technology advanced, many physicians chose to limit their practices to specific, defined areas of medicine. With World War II, the age of specialization began to flourish. In the two decades following the war, the number of specialists and subspecialists increased at a phenomenal rate, while the number of generalists declined dramatically. The public became increasingly vocal about the fragmentation of their care and the shortage of personal physicians who could provide initial, continuing and comprehensive care. Thus began the reorientation of medicine back to personal, primary care. The concept of the generalist was reborn with the establishment of family medicine as medicine's twentieth specialty. Family medicine is a three-dimensional specialty, incorporating (1) knowledge, (2) skill and (3) process. Although knowledge and skill may be shared with other specialties, the family medicine process is unique. At the center of this process is the patient-physician relationship with the patient viewed in the context of the family. It is the extent to which this relationship is valued, developed, nurtured and maintained that distinguishes family medicine from all other specialties. In the dimension of process, the family physician functions as the patient's means of entry into the health care system and as the physician of first contact in most situations is in a unique position to form a bond with the patient.

The family physician's care is both personal and comprehensive and not limited by age, sex, organ system or type of problem, be it biological, behavioral or social. This care is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion. When referral is indicated, the family physician refers the patient to other specialists or caregivers but remains the coordinator of the patient’s health care. This prevents fragmentation of that care in both the outpatient and inpatient settings. The family physician serves as the patient’s advocate in dealing with other medical professionals, third party payers, employers and others and as such is a cost-effective coordinator of the patient’s health services. Although all family physicians share a core of information, the dimensions of knowledge and skill vary with the individual family physician. Patient needs differ in various geographic areas, and the content of the family physician's practice varies accordingly. For example, the knowledge and skills useful to a family physician practicing in an inner city may vary from those needed by a family physician with a rural practice. Furthermore, the scope of an individual family physician's practice changes over time, evolving as competency in current skills is maintained and new knowledge and skill are obtained through continuing medical education. This growth in medical information also confers on the family physician a responsibility for the assessment of new medical technology and for participation in resolving ethical dilemmas brought about by these technological advances. In summary, the family physician of today is rooted in the historical generalist tradition. The specialty is three dimensional, combining knowledge and skill with a unique process. The patient-physician relationship in the context of the family is central to this process and distinguishes family medicine from other specialties. Above all, the scope of family medicine is dynamic, expanding, and evolutionary.

The American Academy of Family Physicians defines a "specialist" in family medicine as a physician who meets at least one of the following three criteria:The American Academy of Family Physicians defines a "specialist" in family medicine as a physician who meets at least one of the following three criteria:

1. Current Board certification by the American Board Family Medicine, or

2. Successful completion of an ACGME-approved family medicine residency program, or a three year AOA approved postgraduate family medicine residency program, or

3. Maintenance of eligibility requirements for active membership in the AAFP.

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Wellness and Preventative Care

What activities, tests, immunizations, examinations should be done to prevent illnesses and keep us healthy? When we are not sick or ill what should we do to stay that way? Americans have become more attuned to health maintence and wellness care in the past several years, and now there is a plethora of information available in the market place about wellness care. This information includes things such as weight contol, vitamins, nutritional supplements, exercise, mental health maintence, herbal and alternative products to stay healthy and mentally alert.

We encourage our patients to practice wellness and preventative care. Preventative lab tests (such as cholesterol tests and blood sugars) , imaging studies (such as bone density measurements and mammograms), immunizations ( baby shots and adult immunizations) , examinations, and advise and help to encourage healthy habits (such as exercise and avoiding harmful substances) are the things that encompass the scope of wellness preventative care are available through our physicians and providers. Since these things are usually recommended based on several things which vary from person to person, such as age, sex (male or female), risk factors (such as family history, or work exposure). We encourage "wellness visits" to discuss, recommend and complete them. Recently, insurance carriers have begun to recognise the importance of health wellness checkups and many of them will include wellness visits as a part of their coverage. Wellness and preventative checkups are very important and we strongly encourge them in our practice.