YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR IS A SPECIALIST
Your family doctor specializes in you – all of you. Family medicine is a certified medical specialty and your family doctor is trained to assess your complete health picture from head to toe.
“I believe family medicine is a specialty in generalism. This does not negate expertise in specialty areas. We provide comprehensive care – through the continuum of life (cradle to grave) and in geographical diversity. Further, we do so with a holistic approach – understanding that our patient’s whole is greater than the sum of their parts. We need to embrace this, celebrate it, promote it and be proud of it!”
– Dr. Roop Conyers, CCFP
TREATING THE PERSON AND THE PATIENT
Family doctors are trained to treat the patient and the person. They know that your illnesses and conditions are never separate from you – the person. Patients come from diverse backgrounds and have wide-ranging needs. Family doctors routinely double as confidantes, advocates, health care navigators, and health care leaders. Because you are unique, there is no one-size-fits-all plan in family medicine.
GENERATIONS AND COMMUNITY
Family medicine is designed to care for you through all of your medical ups and downs – from before birth to death, and from one generation to the next. Continuous care creates a long-term connection between you and your family doctor. Your family doctor knows how you fit into the community, often who your family members are, and the social and medical histories that go with them.
FAMILY PHYSICIANS ARE COLLABORATORS
Discover how your family physician collaborates. Click or hover over each icon.
Your Family Physician
Family Physicians are trained to collaborate with other health care providers. They work with nurses, physiotherapists, nutritionists, social workers, and many others. They work in collaborative care settings or in community networks to coordinate patient care.
Family physicians are collaborators. They provide a system of front-line health care that is relationship- and patient-centred; community-adaptive; collaborative; and continuous.
Nurses
Family physicians often collaborate with nurses: licensed practical nurses (LPNs), registered nurses (RNs), and nurse practitioners (NPs).
Pharmacists
Your family physician works with you and your pharmacist to help ensure the best decisions are made about your medications and overall health.
Mental Health Providers
You and your family physician may work with psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors to provide you with mental health care.
Social Workers
You and your family physician may work with a social worker to help you utilize individual and community resources, and assist in overcoming obstacles to improve your quality of life.
Physiotherapists
Family physicians may collaborate with a physiotherapist to treat your illness, injury, or disability.
Dieticians
You and your family physician may consult with a dietician to ensure your nutritional needs are being met and to help empower you to make informed choices about your diet.
Other Specialties
Your family physician coordinates your care and may periodically consult with other medical specialties such as neurology or orthopedics to help manage your condition in the best way possible.
Occupational Therapists
Your family physician can work with you and your occupational therapist to help ensure your day-to-day activities and overall lifestyle is the best it can be.
ABOUT US
We are the Nova Scotia College of Family Physicians, the voice of family doctors in Nova Scotia. Our organization represents 855 family doctors practicing in the province, along with 71 family medicine residents (family doctors-in-training) and 224 others. This last group includes medical students and retired or inactive family practitioners.