All of us would have a vivid memory of a man/woman holding a briefcase visiting the house whenever grandparents were sick or on a holiday, the entire family would be called for a check-up. The person holding the briefcase is a Family Medicine practitioner or a Family Physician as more commonly referred to. Family Medicine (which was formerly known as Family Practice) is a speciality within the medical and healthcare tree that concerns comprehensive healthcare for people across age groups and genders. Usually, these practitioners are appointed to regularly examine the entire family and give substantial guidance on preventive healthcare methodologies. These practitioners are also called general practitioners, as the name itself captures the holistic nature of this domain. Family Medicine specialists are often trained in primary care of the patients and unlike any single organ specialist, they give a complete, comprehensive overview of their patient’s health and/or conditions and are trained in all parts of the body. Their scope of knowledge encompasses community, health promotion, disease prevention, disease awareness, basic education and information about preemptive healthcare measures.
While Family Physicians are trained to detect and to some extend diagnose a variety of diseases/abnormalities/conditions, essentially a family physician offers a melange of preventive, acute, and chronic healthcare / medical services. Along with diagnosing and curing illnesses, they also perform preemptive healthcare, routine patient check-ups (involving full-body screenings), immunization tests, health-risk assessments, screening examinations, and in-person counselling on the importance and mechanics of a healthy lifestyle. A family physician may also perform a range of tests for any specific disease detection/cure, and may also further recommend single-organ specialists for a better and advanced diagnostic process.
A Family Physician (or an FM specialist) at Aster Hospital is equipped with the right expertise and know-how in order to deal with, in addition to diagnosing and curing illnesses, preventive healthcare, routine examinations of the patients, health-risk assessment tests, managing chronic illnesses, heart diseases, cardiac arrests, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and cancer. They also sometimes counsel on maintaining a fulfilling lifestyle. Their treatment plan may or may not involve regular interventions from other specialists especially single-organ experts in cases where a specific organ is affected/damaged by any disease and/or abnormality. At Aster Hospitals, Family Physicians are key even when it comes to providing personal, ongoing healthcare for the nation’s most serious health problems.
Family medicine is the medical speciality that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family.
At Aster Hospitals, it is the speciality in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioural sciences. The scope of family practice encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system, and every disease entity. Providers include family physicians, physician’s assistants, and family nurse practitioners.
Last updated: 23-04-2026
