Let's all hope you don't have to visit a doctor for long-term health issues. But you do need health maintenance visits. Your body, just like your car needs regular maintenance to keep it in tip-top shape.
A good primary care doctor is required for a routine maintenance check.
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Your primary care doctor will not only see you for medical conditions in his or her area but can also refer you to specialists if the issue is beyond his or her scope of expertise. Your primary care physician can coordinate with specialists to make sure the recommendations are tailored to your needs. Your primary care physician is your coach in total health care. Your primary care doctor sees the whole picture.
Your Primary Care Physician Specializes in you
A lot of patients come to me with a list containing a list indicating the specialists they would like to see for their specific ailments. The recommendations of specialists may be perfect for a hypothetical patient but not for the person in question due to different circumstances, co-existing conditions, or other treatments.
Specialists don't always know the work of other specialists. A primary care doctor is often capable of treating the same conditions that the patient has spent a lot of money and time seeing. Imagine shooting a fly using a cannonball or multiple cannonballs. A lightweight flyswatter is all you need.
Each specialist will only see you within the scope of his or her specialization: your guts and your heart, skin, eyes, brain, or stomach. All these parts of your body are part of a larger whole that is you.