Our family practice doctors are trained in all areas of medicine to provide you and your loved ones the care you need at every stage of life. In addition to annual check-ups, routine screenings, and other preventive care services to keep you and your family healthy, our family doctors offer diagnoses and treatment of everything from the common cold to chronic conditions.
At River Bend Medical Associates, our culturally diverse and socially sensitive healthcare team of family physicians, PAs, NPs, nutritionists, and support staff are highly skilled and dedicated to the healthcare needs of your entire family.
What is Family Medicine?
Family medicine is medicine for the whole family. Family medicine providers care for patients of all ages, from birth to death.
Family physicians are generalists trained to offer preventative care, evaluate symptoms, diagnose illnesses, treat acute and chronic conditions, and let patients know when they need to see a specialist.
River Bend Medical Associates family medical care providers offer convenient, patient-based care that fits your busy schedule. From babies to elderly adults, we focus on your overall health and well-being, not just on a single problem or illness. We are here to answer your health questions and address your concerns, provide preventive care, order tests, prescribe medications, help you manage chronic conditions, and access specialty care when needed.
Family Physicians Provide Long-Term Care
A family medicine doctor can remain your primary care provider long-term. Family medical doctors treat patients of all ages and stages of life from infants to seniors, so you will not need to change primary care providers as you age.
Because your family doctor can see you continuously as you age, you can build a steady and long-term relationship with your primary care provider. The stability of this relationship can provide you with peace of mind in that you know you have an experienced and caring doctor to help you through your healthcare journey.
River Bend Medical Associates can care for your whole family. Newborns, toddlers, tweens, teens, adults, fab fifties, and seniors, we care for patients of all ages. Whether you need women’s health services, routine healthcare, pediatric care for your children, or medical care for an elderly parent, our family practice has you covered.
Your Family Doctor Knows Your Medical History
Your family doctor knows you and your family’s medical history. Understanding your medical history can help a doctor to make more efficient and accurate diagnoses.
Unlike urgent care or ER doctors, family doctors have the time and resources to pay close attention to your family medical history. Your primary care doctor needs to understand your family’s health history to help determine what you could be at risk for. For example, if your mom and grandma had heart disease, then you could be at a higher risk of having heart disease.
Because your family doctor can treat you and your whole family continuously for years, they can maintain an in-depth and ongoing family medical history by updating it with each visit.
Family Physician Training and Education
Because family doctors care for all age brackets, family medicine encompasses the entire spectrum of care through the life span of the patient. They are generalists trained to care for people of all ages who may have a wide variety of health conditions and issues.
In addition to providing yearly check-ups, family doctors are trained to help you to manage your chronic condition such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, COPD, chronic pain, IBS, and so much more. They can also help you through pregnancy and treat acute medical issues such as strep throat, sinus infections, and most injuries.
Education for a family physician includes an undergraduate degree followed by study at an accredited school of medicine or osteopathic medicine. Family medicine doctors then must complete a three to four-year residency with rotations in obstetrics, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine, and in-patient hospital care (including critical care). After residency training is completed and all requirements are met, family physician residents are eligible to take board certification exams and pursue state medical licensing.
What Does a Family Medicine Doctor Do?
A family practice physician can treat a variety of conditions, even some you might see a specialist for, like sports injuries or women’s health issues. In addition to routine check-ups, family practice doctors provide a wide range of medical services such as:
- Treatment for Illnesses – conditions like strep throat, sinus infections, or bronchitis.
- Common Injury treatment – like sprains, strains, cuts, or abrasions.
- Immunizations – like an annual flu shot or shots needed for travel.
- Allergy Injections – to keep those pesky hives at bay.
- Health Risk Assessments and Screenings – for things like diabetes and cancer.
- Birth Control Assistance– such as Norplant placement and removal.
- Pregnancy Care – Obstetrics, prenatal care, delivery & postpartum care.
- Skin Cancer Checks – Including biopsy and excision of skin lesions or moles.
- Abscess Care – incision and drainage of an abscess when necessary.
- Joint injections – to reduce inflammation and pain due to injury or degeneration.
- Nutrition, wellness, and weight loss.
- Women’s Health Exams – such as breast exams and pelvic exams
- Palliative Care – for people living with serious health conditions.
- Chronic condition management assistance – like for diabetes or high blood pressure.
- Specialist referrals and coordination.
- And so much more…
Seeing Your Family Doctor Can Save You Money
Not only can going to an ER (emergency room) or urgent care facility for a minor illness or condition be expensive, but it can also be unnecessary. An appointment with your family medicine doctor will likely be significantly cheaper than a emergency or urgent care visit.
Seeing your family doctor regularly is a good investment for your health. Without regular check-ups, many health issues can go undetected. For instance, high blood pressure is a widespread and potentially deadly condition that can be detected with blood pressure checks at your doctor’s office.
In addition to diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses, family medicine providers do routine health screenings and counseling on lifestyle changes to help prevent diseases before they develop. Ultimately, preventing illness can save you time, money, and suffering.
River Bend Medical Associates is committed to the philosophy of treating the whole person. Many health crises start as health concerns. Our family medical practice uses a wellness-based approach to health. We work with children and adults, providing ongoing care and wellness programs to help patients achieve self-directed goals such as losing weight, improving their daily diet, better-controlling diabetes, and overall improved quality of life.
Referrals to Medical Specialists
If you have a medical condition that may require specialized treatment, such as heart disease or diabetes, a visit to your family doctor at River Bend Medical Associates is a good place to start. Your family practice doctor can recommend and help you access qualified specialists. After you begin treatment with a specialist, the physicians can work together to coordinate your medications and monitor your condition.
What to Expect at a Family Doctor Appointment
What you can expect at your family practice doctor appointment will depend on why you have come in for the visit.
Your physician may:
- Check your vital signs – like blood pressure, heartbeat, temperature, and breathing.
- Perform an abdominal exam
- Perform a head and neck exam
- Request routine blood tests – for things like diabetes or high cholesterol.
- Give you shots – immunizations like for flu or shingles
- Perform a skin exam
- Perform infant or child exams
- Men’s health screenings – such as a prostate exam
- Women’s health screenings – such as pap smears or breast exams
- Make referrals for specialized care
Your family doctor will also ask you questions about your continuing family medical history, lifestyle habits, medications, mental well-being, and other health-related concerns.
Telehealth Family Medicine
Family medicine telehealth is a video appointment that lets you have a visit with a doctor safely and securely no matter where you are. Telehealth appointments are easy, talk to your doctor to learn more about your virtual options for your next appointment.
A family medical practice is a primary care doctor’s office that provides comprehensive and continuous healthcare to people of all ages, from babies, kids, and teens, to adults and the elderly.
Your family doctor knows you and your medical history. As your primary care provider, your family doctor can offer a wide range of medical services like physicals and check-ups, health testing and diagnostics, immunizations, allergy shots and other injections, prescriptions, healthy lifestyle counseling, and treatment for illnesses and chronic conditions.
If you are looking for a family doctor, our family medicine practice is accepting new patients – contact River Bend Medical Associates for an appointment today!