Dictionary of family medicine

From WikiMD's Wellness Encyclopedia

The Dictionary of Family Medicine provides comprehensive definitions and descriptions of terms and concepts used in the field of family medicine, which focuses on holistic care and the treatment of patients of all ages.

Clinical Procedures[edit | edit source]

  • Joint injection - A procedure commonly performed by family physicians to deliver steroids directly into a joint, such as the knee, to reduce inflammation and pain.
  • Skin biopsy - A diagnostic procedure where a family doctor removes a small sample of skin tissue for laboratory analysis to diagnose skin conditions or diseases.

Health Education[edit | edit source]

  • Patient education - A core element of family medicine, focusing on teaching patients about their health, preventive measures, and treatments to encourage self-care and informed decision-making.
  • Health promotion - The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health, often a fundamental task in family medicine.

Systems and Policies[edit | edit source]

  • Electronic health record (EHR) - Digital version of a patient's paper chart and broader health history, integral to modern family medicine for comprehensive care coordination.
  • Healthcare system - The organization of people, institutions, and resources that deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations, a context in which family medicine operates.

Ethics and Professionalism[edit | edit source]

  • Confidentiality - The ethical principle that mandates healthcare providers to keep a patient's personal health information private, unless consent to release the information is provided by the patient.
  • Cultural competence - The ability of healthcare providers to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients. A critical skill in family medicine.

Advocacy and Community Health[edit | edit source]

  • Health advocacy - Activities by an individual or group that aim to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions on behalf of patients, an important role for family physicians.
  • Community health - A field of public health that focuses on the health characteristics of the biological communities. Family physicians often engage with community health by addressing health disparities and working with community resources.

Professional Development[edit | edit source]

  • Continuing Medical Education (CME) - Educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance a family physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession.
  • Board certification - A certification process by a professional board to acknowledge a physician's exceptional expertise in a particular specialty or subspecialty of medical practice, including family medicine.

A[edit | edit source]

  • Acute care - Short-term treatment for a new illness or injury, often seen in family practice settings.
  • Adolescent medicine - A subspecialty of family medicine that focuses on the care of teenagers and young adults.

B[edit | edit source]

  • Biopsychosocial model - An interdisciplinary model that looks at the interconnection between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors in health and disease.

C[edit | edit source]

  • Chronic care management - Ongoing support for individuals with chronic diseases, which is a key component of family medicine practices.
  • Continuity of care - A hallmark of family medicine, emphasizing ongoing patient-provider relationships and comprehensive care across all stages of life.

D[edit | edit source]

  • Disease prevention - Strategies in family medicine aimed at preventing the occurrence of diseases and health conditions.

E[edit | edit source]

  • Evidence-based practice - The integration of clinical expertise, patient values, and the best research evidence into the decision-making process for patient care in family medicine.

F[edit | edit source]

  • Family-centered care - An approach to health care that encourages active collaboration and shared decision-making between families and healthcare providers.

G[edit | edit source]

  • Geriatric medicine - A branch of family medicine that focuses on health care of the elderly and the treatment of diseases associated with aging.

H[edit | edit source]

  • Health maintenance - Routine health care that includes screenings, check-ups, and patient counseling to prevent illnesses, diseases, and other health-related problems.

I[edit | edit source]

  • Integrated care - The coordinated delivery of services to treat both the body and mind, which is often practiced in family medicine.


M[edit | edit source]

  • Medical ethics - Principles and standards that guide the conduct of professionals in family medicine and patient care.

O[edit | edit source]

  • Obstetrical care - Care related to pregnancy and childbirth; many family medicine practitioners provide prenatal care and some also offer delivery services.

P[edit | edit source]

  • Palliative care - Specialized medical care focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness, which is also a component of family medicine.

Q[edit | edit source]

  • Quality of life - A measure of personal satisfaction with the cultural or intellectual conditions under which an individual lives, as seen from the perspective of family medicine.

R[edit | edit source]

  • Residency - A stage of graduate medical training wherein a physician works in a hospital or clinic to practice under the supervision of a senior practitioner.

S[edit | edit source]

  • Screening - The process of looking for diseases before they are symptomatic, which is a preventive service in family medicine.

T[edit | edit source]

  • Telemedicine - The use of telecommunication technology to provide clinical health care at a distance, increasingly adopted in family medicine.

V[edit | edit source]

  • Vaccination - Administration of a vaccine to stimulate an individual's immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen.

W[edit | edit source]

  • Well-child visit - Regularly scheduled medical appointments for preventive health care, tracking growth and development, and vaccinations in pediatrics, an important aspect of family medicine.
  • Women's health - A specialized field of medicine within family practice that focuses on conditions and diseases affecting women's physical and emotional well-being.

Y[edit | edit source]

  • Youth health - A domain within family medicine that deals with the complex health needs and diseases of children and adolescents, emphasizing preventive care and education.

List of terms[edit | edit source]

Glossaries, dictionaries, and lists in WikiMD[edit source]

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Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD