Your family doctor is going to be your partner in your own long-term health care, as well as that of your family members, so it is important that you find a doctor you are comfortable with, is conveniently located and has a philosophy and scope of practice that aligns with your health care needs. You will first need to determine what is important to you in a family doctor and use that as a starting point for your research to help you narrow down your search. Your family doctor will need to be in a location that is convenient to you and where you will be when you have to schedule the majority of your appointments – that could be close to home or your place of work. Think about other family members as well who will be seeing the doctor and what would work best for getting them to appointments. You can do a broad search of the internet to find out what doctors and clinics are located within your preferred area and narrow it down from there based on things like hours, parking or transit, education and experience of the doctor, if they’re accepting new patients and what their scope of practice is. Asking friends and family, or trusted neighbors, for their recommendations can also help you narrow down your search. Once you have narrowed it down to a couple of doctors, it is a good idea to meet with them to get a feeling for how you interact with each other and ask any further questions you have that couldn’t be answered through your research. The best doctor is going to be the one that will work best with you, your family and your long-term health and well-being.

A family doctor and general practice doctor are sometimes used interchangeably, which can cause confusion. There is a difference however between the two practices in the medical field. Family practice has been declared a specialized field of medicine and as such requires additional education and medical training, as well as becoming board certified as a family practice doctor. Their scope of practice can be very similar, with both able to treat patients of all ages and sexes across a broad spectrum of illness, injuries and conditions. Both focus on preventative care, as well as health education for their patients, along with diagnosis and treatment for the array of ailments that they see in their patients. Family practice doctors complete an additional three to four years of residency in family medicine that general practice doctors don’t complete. The additional training focuses on the personal, comprehensive and ongoing care of all of the patients in a family.

A primary care doctor can be either a family practice doctor or a general practice doctor. The best primary care doctor is going to be the one who has education and experience with your unique medical history and will provide the medical care you need for yourself and your family, if you have one. Both doctors can have their own private practice or work out of a larger primary care center depending on their scope of work and the practice they want to build for themselves. It is up to the individual patients to determine which practitioner is going to be the right one for them. The ability to diagnose and treat patients is very similar between the two, with a family doctor spending additional time in residency focused on family medicine.

Yes, Suburban Healthcare Associates is currently accepting new patients under several of our different areas of medical expertise. We offer a wide range of medical services to keep our patients looking and feeling their best for years to come. Reach out to us through our website or give us a call to book an appointment to meet one of our highly skilled doctors and get yourself started on the right track to your optimal health and wellness.

If you have other questions to ask our doctors at Suburban HealthCare Associates, we welcome you to call us or schedule an appointment through our website! We serve patients from Naperville IL, Plainfield IL, Joliet IL, Romeoville IL, Shorewood IL, Crest Hill IL, and Aurora IL.