Have you guys heard about general physicians and also medicine doctors? If you did, then do you know their differences? Why were these two doctors called differently? Online hospital’s website such as doctoroncall used to have general physicians available for consultation, but why is there no general medicine doctor for online consultation? In this article, we will attempt to show you the differences between those two. Continue reading to know more about their differences so that you know what to expect the next time you meet any of them.
General Physician
A general physician is a doctor that you always meet at a clinic. Any doctor that works in a clinic is referred to as a general physician. So, what is their job? A general physician’s main job is to conduct a consultation, find the initial diagnosis and provide immediate treatment if any. Basically, it can be done in 4 steps as below:
- Initial consultation
This is the first step that will happen when you meet a doctor at any clinic. During this process, your doctor would want to find out more about your complaint. He or she will ask you tons of questions regarding your health such as your current illness, its severity, past medical history, your medication, family history and also your social life. By going through this information, your doctor will then derive the initial diagnosis. Based on this, the doctor then will continue with the next step.
- Physical examination
Based on the initial diagnosis system, your doctor will check your physical body in order to look out for any findings. For example, if your complaint is about an illness that comes from your lung, then your doctor will check your chest first to look for any clue. If needed, the doctor will also check other body systems such as your head, extremities, abdomen, genitalia or your back.
- Lab test
If your doctor needs to confirm something, then he will order a lab test. In order to do a lab test, they will need to take your body samples such as blood or body fluid. The lab test is one way to confirm a diagnosis.
- Result
Once everything is done, it is only a matter of time before you get your result. Sometimes it is very quick, but sometimes you need to wait a few days. Depending on the result, your doctor will then discuss the possible treatment that you need to do. If needed, you might be referred to the hospital for further investigation. This is where the general medicine doctor starts their job.
General medicine doctor
A general medicine doctor is one that works in a hospital setting. They are not available at the clinics such as the general practitioner. Their main job is to diagnose and treat patients that come and stay in the hospital. Any patient that is referred to them based on medical illness will be diagnosed by a general medicine doctor. Firstly, they will attempt to diagnose the patient again just to make sure that the initial diagnosis is correct. Once they know the source, then they will try to treat it based on the best possible treatment available. But first, they will discuss with the patient and gain consent regarding the treatment before deciding to proceed with it. As for the treatment, they will try to focus more on giving medication to the patient. Any other type of treatment such as surgery or rehabilitation will be passed on to another doctor’s field such as the surgeon and the physical therapist.
