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10 Things to Ask Your Family Doctor

Being open with your family doctor is essential. They can help assess and evaluate you for any symptoms and allow you to understand your body better. The more comfortable and transparent you are with them, the easier it will be to achieve better health.

Here are ten things to ask your family doctor about when you visit them for a consultation or check-up:

1. Questions About Medical Tests And Assessments

Medical screenings are crucial tools for detecting illnesses. Your family doctor may require you to undergo various ones during your check-up.

While assessments and screenings are not uncommon, it’s still good to know what will happen during the procedure. Before you proceed, ask them to explain how you’ll benefit from the medical test.

Your doctor should tell you the procedure’s details, how the findings will help their assessment, and how much it will cost.

X-rays, blood exams, and urine tests can help your physician inspect any abnormalities in your body. Some procedures, such as glaucoma tests, mammograms, and Pap smears,can aid in diagnosing serious illnesses.

2. Questions About Diagnoses

Once you’ve gone through all the needed medical assessments, your doctor will arrive at a diagnosis for your condition. Ask them to provide as much detail about it as possible.

Your family physician should also tell you how they arrived at a conclusion based on your test results. They will then talk to you about the nature of your condition, its treatments, and how to keep symptoms at bay.

You should ask about how long your condition could last, what steps to take, and how to prevent it from worsening.

3. Questions About Medications

If your doctor has given you a prescription for a medication, you can ask them to discuss its dosage and side effects. Your family physician will prescribe the correct dosage, the interval of hours for taking it, and the total duration of treatment.

Ask your doctor for possible contraindications if you take other medications, like over-the-counter drugs, birth control pills, and vitamins, to ensure non negative interactions occur.

4. Questions About Surgery

For patients scheduled to undergo surgery, a visit to a family doctor can help with preparation. Ask your physician what they know about the specific surgery you’re about to go through.

Since your family doctor knows your medical history, they can talk to you about possible side effects or risks. You can also ask them to coordinate with your surgeon to ensure a smooth procedure. If steps need to be taken to make you healthier prior to surgery, your family physician can help with that.

5. Questions About Diet Changes

You can ask your family doctor if you plan to change your diet. Your physician can help you plan a balanced nutrition plan to ensure you’re not cutting out any essential nutrients.

They can also let you know whether or not you need to make a diet change in the first place. Severely underweight or overweight patients will be encouraged to do so. However, your doctor may not recommend it if you’re already at a healthy weight.

Patients with specific conditions like diabetes and high blood cholesterol may need to avoid particular foods. Ask your doctor to discuss in detail what you can include in your new diet plan.

6. Questions About Sleep Habits

If you’re experiencing sleep issues, you can ask your family doctor about safe intervention options to take. They may prescribe aids like sleeping pills or over-the-counter melatonin. Calming teas and hot beverages may also help.

Your doctor can help you plan a nighttime sleep routine, too. Ask them about the science behind getting long, uninterrupted sleep to understand why healthy sleep habits are vital.

7. Questions About Exercise

Your family physician can recommend an appropriate exercise plan for your specific health conditions or state of health.

For example, if you’re an office worker who spends long hours sitting down, your physician may prescribe at least 30 minutes of daily exercise. Overweight patients might be encouraged to do more workouts to reach their weight loss goals.

People who suffered from an injury or are recovering from surgery can also consult their family doctor for exercise recommendations. Make sure to ask questions about what specific exercises you should do, and how to prevent injuries when exercising.

8. Questions About Your Family Medical History

Your family doctor knows all about your medical history, including that of your family. Ask them what illnesses and sicknesses you may develop due to being high risk as a result of your family medical history.

Ask them about precautions to take to avoid the same medical conditions your family members have. If you already have them, you can ask your doctor about proper management.

9. Questions About Pain

Consult your doctor if you’re experiencing any discomfort or pain. Even if it’s just mild pain, it could indicate something going on in your body, especially if it is unexplained or is chronic.

Your physician can help you get to the root cause of the pain and recommend treatment options. Most of the time, they will prescribe over-the-counter drugs or minor lifestyle changes to help you recover.

Your doctor will guide you through a treatment plan for severe cases. Be transparent with them regarding your symptoms, so they may evaluate you accordingly. Ask them what could be causing the pain and what steps you can take to reduce the pain naturally. You should also what signs to look out for that indicate you need medical attention regarding your pain.

10. Questions About Future Visits

Don’t forget to ask your family doctor about what to do until your next visit. They may recommend medications, therapy, or medical tests to do until the next appointment.

Also, ask them about the frequency of your visits. Regular check-ups are essential to staying healthy. People with chronic medical conditions may need more frequent doctor visits.

Family Medicine Near You In Wellington, FL

When visiting a family physician, patients should ask about all things related to their health. These include medical tests, diagnoses, treatment options, surgery implications, possible diet changes, changes to sleep habits, exercise plans, and much more.

We at Advanced Medical Clinic are proud to serve as a family practice in Wellington. Dr. Ishan Gunawardene is happy to answer all your questions about your health. Dr. Gunawardene is a board-certified internist who can help you stay on top of your health. Call us at (561) 434-1935for inquiries. You can also schedule an appointment with the best family doctor in Wellington by submitting an online request form.

What Is Unique About Family Medicine?

There are so many doctors today who specialize in specific areas of medicine – such as orthopedics (the musculoskeletal system), neurology (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), endocrinology (secretions, especially of hormones, such as insulin), and ophthalmology (the eyes). However, you will ideally have a general practitioner who will not only keep track of all your reports from your various specialists, but also administer vaccinations and perform bloodwork and a urinalysis to check for any new infections or diseases at your annual checkup.

General practitioners (GPs) for adults are called internists, and GPs for children are called pediatricians. Bringing it all together are family medicine practitioners, who can treat health issues of all kinds and in people of all ages.

The broad scope of family medicine is what makes it unique, and you don’t have to have a family to see a family medicine provider. Let’s talk about what is involved in family medicine, what sets it apart from other medical specialties, and where you can go in Wellington to see an outstanding family practitioner who can help you stay healthy.

Primary Care for All Ages

Family medicine providers can care for every member of the family, from infants to the elderly. They administer annual checkups, monitor chronic illnesses, and make sure that a patient doesn’t have new medications that have contraindications with each other – meaning that they counteract, rendering them unhelpful or even harmful to your body.

Comprehensive and Preventive Care

With their breadth of experience, family medicine practitioners are able to provide comprehensive care to patients throughout their lifetime. They are able to tailor each patient’s treatment plan according to the patient’s unique needs and preferences.

Family practitioners address various aspects of a patient’s overall health, such as:

  • Sleep
  • Energy levels
  • Nutrition
  • Blood pressure
  • Weight
  • Mental health
  • Mobility
  • Chronic conditions
  • Injury prevention
  • Pain relief
  • Memory

Family medicine practitioners provide preventive care, which includes health screenings, immunizations, and wellness checks. The healthcare provider will spend time with you and listen to what you have to say about health and wellness concerns.

Baseline Healthcare Practitioner

Medical specialists focus on their specialty alone, they don’t administer flu shots and check all of your vitals for other health conditions. However, primary care providers such as family practitioners act as coordinators of your overall care, making sure you get the treatment you need, and may refer you to specialists if necessary in order for you to reach optimal health and wellness.

Family Medicine Practitioner in Wellington, FL

Here at Advanced Medical Clinic, our staff is highly experienced and provides exceptional, compassionate primary care for the whole family. Our family medicine practitioner is Shariffa Gunawardene, and she treats patients with a preventive approach and a treatment approach – including helping you manage injuries and illnesses. She is known in Palm Beach County for her compassionate nature and her commitment to your health.

For any questions or to schedule an appointment with Nurse Practitioner Gunawardene, call our Wellington primary care clinic today at (561) 434-1935 or fill out our appointment request form online now. We look forward to being your family healthcare provider!

 

What Can a Family Doctor in Wellington Treat?

Family medicine is grounded on the most basic social unit—the family. Family medicine doctors receive specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of the entire spectrum of medical conditions that affect the members of an entire family unit: the mother, the father, the children, and even the grandparents.

It doesn’t mean, however, that you need to have a family to be attended to by a family doctor. Rather, it implies that family doctors can provide care to patients of all ages, throughout their lives, and for multiple generations at the same time.  

To get a better insight into how you can benefit from the expertise of a family doctor, let’s explore the various conditions they treat and the scope of their services.

Emerging, Acute, and Chronic Conditions

 

As your primary care provider, your family doctor knows your medical history and can evaluate new and unusual symptoms, which may be indicative of a development of a potentially serious medical condition. In other words, if you’re experiencing symptoms that you suspect to be those of a chronic condition, your family doctor is the usually the first physician you see to ascertain whether these symptoms are any cause for concern. Your family doctor will then order the necessary tests, interpret the results, and constantly monitor your symptoms to see if there’s any progression.

Should these symptoms point to a chronic condition, your family doctor can provide personalized, ongoing treatment and coordinate your care with other sub-specialists, when need be. Common chronic diseases treated by family doctors include arthritis, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension.

Your family doctor is also your go-to – and often, your only stop– for appropriate diagnoses and treatment of acute conditions, such as urinary tract infection, cold, flu, sinus infection, ear infection, among others.

Women’s Health

Contrary to what many women think, a wellness appointment with their OB/GYN doesn’t necessarily cover their primary care needs. Albeit an OB/GYN can cover specific gynecologic or reproductive health issues, it isn’t the same as seeing a family doctor.

A recent study indicates that women who consult their family doctors for preventive care receive a broader range of care. The bottom line is that visits with family doctors can complement visits with OB/GYNs.

Other Services Provided by a Family Doctor

Apart from diagnosing and providing treatment for diseases, family doctors also provide health and nutrition counseling, health-risk assessments, early pregnancy care, family planning, wellness checkups, immunizations, and screening tests. 

Family Medicine Provider in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach

If you’ve been on the world wide web to search for a family doctor in Wellington, Florida, your search ends here. At Advanced Medical Clinic, our board-certified family nurse practitioner–Shariffa Gunawardene—is a family medicine provider, who is dedicated to delivering evidence-based, compassionate, and patient-centered care to everyone in our community.

 To schedule an appointment with Shariffa, call us at (561) 434-1935. You may also use this secure online appointment form.