General and Family Consultation
General and Family Medicine is dedicated to providing primary healthcare, meaning a generalist and comprehensive medical approach to individuals and families, with no age restrictions, addressing both health and illness from preventive, diagnostic, and curative perspectives. When necessary, it refers patients to other medical or surgical specialties while always maintaining close follow-up.
The General and Family Medicine doctor is, therefore, a healthcare professional qualified to care for the entire family unit. Their ultimate goal is the physical and mental well-being of those who seek their care, always considering the sociocultural environment in which they are inserted.
Areas of Intervention
Their practice has two main areas of action:
- Curative Medicine, aimed at treating acute illnesses (e.g., flu syndromes, colds, tonsillitis, gastroenteritis…) and chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol disorders, hypothyroidism…).
- Preventive Medicine, aimed at avoiding disease by following the best national and international practices, such as cancer prevention through active screenings (e.g., breast, colon…) as well as controlling cardiovascular risk factors.
This preventive aspect should always be present in our medical consultations. In this regard, the General and Family Medicine doctor has access to a wide range of laboratory and imaging tests, which serve as essential tools for preventing or detecting diseases.
Patients frequently ask their doctor which tests to undergo, when to take them, and how often, often referring to the need for “routine tests” or a “check-up.” In this context, the doctor must always weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each test, thereby avoiding unnecessary or even potentially harmful examinations and interventions.