PCP - Primary Care Physician

Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) help patients maintain overall health by focusing on preventive care, instead of specializing in a specific area of medicine. Included in this category are the following:

• Family Practice or General Practice - A family practitioner is qualified to care for the entire family. A family practitioner can be board-certified and have training in a variety of subjects including Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. This specialty was more common in years past but can still be found to treat the entire family.
• Internal Medicine - An internist can diagnose and treat disease with medicine. An internist is not a surgeon. There are several sub-specialties an internist can have, including: specializing in a particular organ, like the lungs or the kidneys, a particular disease, like diabetes, or a particular age group, like the elderly.
• Pediatrics - A pediatrician specializes in the overall well-being of children. Most pediatricians treat children from birth until adolescence or about 14 years old. Pediatricians can have sub-specialties such as surgery or pediatric cardiology.

You may change your Primary Care Physician no more than once per calendar month.