We are often asked the question “What is primary care?” How does primary care differ from internal medicine or family practice?
Primary Care focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of disease states in adults. These illnesses can be common or complex and involve diseases of the brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, blood, digestive, vascular, muscles and joints. Doctors in this field are often called “internists.” They spend 3 years in training devoted only to diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease states in adults. Family practice providers will complete only one to two months of Internal medicine training a year during their residency. Devoting other training months to treatment of infants/children, adolescents and pregnancy. Many medicine specialties require 3 years of internal medicine training before the physician can move on to more focused specialty training such as cardiology, pulmonology and a myriad of other areas.
Until the past 10 years most internists worked both in the hospital and in outpatient clinics. This allowed patients to be followed by the same physician both in the hospital and in the outpatient clinic. In present times most internists work in only one care setting. Those choosing to work only in hospitals are termed “hospitalists.” Those choosing to work only in the outpatient setting are called primary care providers.
Over 60 Years Combined Experience
Dr. Young and Dr. Overbay have practiced in the field of primary care for over 30 years. Dr. Overbay is additionally trained in the field of infectious disease. Dr. Young is additionally trained in the field of chronic pain treatment.
- coordinate patient care all in one place
- preventive care
- cancer screening
- chronic care for conditions like asthma, hypertension, and diabetes
- acute care for symptoms like cough, stomach pain, or high fever