I Feel Great! Do I Still Need an Annual Wellness Check?
Annual wellness visits are a cornerstone of primary care for all ages. Here’s why they’re still important when you feel fine.
What Makes Family Medicine Different?
Family medicine covers the basic health care needs of yourself and each member of your family, no matter their ages. From infant care to geriatrics, you can potentially visit the same family medicine practice for your entire life without switching to a new provider who doesn’t know you as well.
Westmed Family Healthcare strives to be a top-choice family medicine practice. From our office in Westminster, Colorado, our team of board-certified family physicians welcomes you, your children, your parents, and even your grandparents in for exceptionally detailed health care.
Drs. Clifton Etienne, Michael Cavanagh, and Flora Brewington diagnose and treat your whole family and maintain your wellness with ongoing support and prevention.
Here’s what sets family medicine apart from other medical specialties:
Lasting patient-provider relationships
Because family medicine practitioners have the necessary education and training to treat you at every age, you don’t have to change providers as you enter different stages of life. Unlike internists for adult care or pediatricians for children’s care, family medicine doesn’t require patients to be within a specific age range.
Your provider tracks your health over time with annual wellness exams. When they record information from these exams, they can examine trends in your health and offer better personalized recommendations for health promotion and disease prevention.
If you start bringing your children to a family medicine practice, they can continue coming in after they turn 18. With so many new things happening around that age, finding a new physician doesn’t have to be on the list of major life changes.
Familiarity between you and your physician
Your family physician gets to know you and all of your family members as they see you semi-regularly over the years. They soon become familiar with your lifestyle and belief systems, which can affect decision-making in care.
Because of this added familiarity, you and your family members receive personalized recommendations for treatment and trustworthy specialist referrals to align with your needs and health goals.
If you have small children, anxious adolescents, or even family members who are growing old and experiencing declining health, a sense of familiarity and trust between your family and your family’s providers can help make visits easier and more comfortable for them.
All of your basic medical care in the same place
Family medicine covers all of your primary care needs. You’re welcome to come in for your annual wellness exams, sick visits, family planning consultations, acute care, and chronic disease management. You can also access urgent care services that might otherwise involve a lengthy and inconvenient visit to the emergency room.
Family medicine practitioners offer a wider scope of treatments and services than internists. They also tend to offer more in-office procedures such as diagnostic tissue biopsies, minor skin surgeries, and intrauterine device (IUD) placement.
Ready to schedule a visit?
For any of your own medical needs or the needs of a close family member, you can rely on our family medicine practitioners at Westmed Family Healthcare. Schedule an appointment by calling our office today or using the online booking feature any time.
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