Different kinds of doctors practice different kinds of medicine. Everyone understands that a family doctor is not trained to perform a heart transplant. What do different types of physicians do, and what conditions do they most commonly treat?

Let's take a look at some specialties and subspecialties. We'll begin by looking at physicians who specialize in primary care and then move on to other fields. A lot of this information comes from the websites of the associations that represent these doctors. When appropriate, links to learn more about these fields will be provided.

1. Primary Care Physician

A primary care physician is the first point of contact. This category traditionally includes family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics. Primary care physicians treat patients with "undifferentiated" health problems and must make diagnoses based on signs, symptoms, and clinical history.

Primary care medicine encompasses any organ system or diagnosis, as well as any other biological, psychological, or social issues.

Primary care physicians routinely provide continuity of care and see patients over the course of their lives. When someone refers to their"doctor," they are most likely referring to their internist or family medicine physician.

When necessary, a primary care physician can refer a patient to a specialist, allowing effective and comprehensive care to be coordinated.

2. General Internist

Adult patients are seen by a general internist. General internists are primary care physicians who practice in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Some internists are known as hospitalists because they only treat patients in hospitals.

General internists complete three years of residency or postgraduate training after graduating from medical school. Following residency, these doctors can either practice as general internists or pursue specialty training.

General internists are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of common conditions, such as headache, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Internists oversee medication regimens, prescribe medications, counsel patients on medication use and side effects, and monitor medications for potentially dangerous interactions.

3. Family Physician

A family physician, also known as a family medicine physician, is a doctor who is trained to care for all members of the family, including infants, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Family physicians are not only responsible for treating general medical conditions, but also for health maintenance and can refer their patients to appropriate consultants, health services, and community resources.

A family physician also provides preventive health care, which includes measures aimed at preventing future illness. Diagnostic testing, such as cholesterol or blood sugar testing, or counseling on weight loss, smoking cessation, alcohol abuse, and so on, could be among these measures.

Family doctors treat everything from upper respiratory infections to skin infections to hypertension and diabetes. In addition, many family physicians perform minor outpatient medical procedures such as abscess lancing or suture removal.

4. Pediatrician

Pediatricians treat patients from infancy to early adulthood, addressing their physical, mental, and social health concerns. In addition, they diagnose and treat acute and chronic diseases, as well as provide preventive health care (think the administration of vaccines and health counseling).

A pediatrician, like a general internist, can be a primary care pediatrician. Furthermore, pediatric medical subspecialists can specialize in a variety of fields, similar to internists, with the primary difference being that internists care for adults and pediatricians care for children.

5. Obstetrician-Gynecologist

Obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) look after women's reproductive needs. They also provide prenatal and postnatal care to women. Obstetrics and gynecology is a medical and surgical specialty, with OB-GYNs performing a variety of surgical procedures such as hysterectomy, or the removal of the uterus.

Obstetrics and gynecology is a four-year residency program. OB-GYNs can also specialize in reproductive endocrinology, maternal-fetal medicine, and reproductive endocrinology and fertility.

6. Surgeons

General surgery is a five-year residency program that prepares physicians to use surgery to diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases. Following surgery residency, general surgeons (surgeons who practice without further residency training) typically perform the following procedures: colon cancer surgery, hemorrhoid surgery, varicose veins, cholecystectomy, or gallbladder removal.

Notably, general surgeons are trained to perform both laparotomies, or open abdominal incisions, and laparoscopy, which involves the use of a laparoscope, or a flexible tube with a light at the end. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure in which the laparoscope and surgical instrumentation are introduced into the body through a small incision and the abdominal cavity is inflated.

7. Psychiatrists

Psychiatry is a medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of behavioral, mental, and emotional disorders.

Please keep in mind that, while there is some overlap between the two professions, psychiatrists and psychologists are fundamentally different types of health care providers. Psychiatrists are physicians who hold either an MD or a DO degree.

Interestingly, neurology and psychiatry have a shared history but have diverged over time. Many neurological diseases are accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. In addition, psychiatric disorders can manifest as organic neurological illnesses.

Both types of residency training programs reflect the common origins of these fields, with psychiatry residents receiving extensive exposure to neurology and neurologists receiving extensive exposure to psychiatry.