Family physicians are medical doctors trained in the specialty of family practice.
This medical specialty emphasizes comprehensive care of patients throughout their lifetime. While most other medical specialists provide care for a limited number of diseases or certain types of injuries, the family physician is trained to care for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of their patients of all ages and both sexes. Today's family physicians combine a tradition of warm, personal caring with broad, continuous training that specially prepares them to prevent illness, to diagnose and treat many of the problems people bring to their doctors, and to refer to other specialists as needed. After four years of college and four years of medical school, today's family physicians get three more years of training in a family practice residency program. This provides a unique training ground with real life experience treating patients in the doctor's office, in the hospital and in homes.