The nation's nearly seventy thousand practicing family physicians are key providers of primary care in the United States.

In the increasingly fragmented world of healthcare, one thing remains constant; family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person. They are unlike other specialty doctors, which are sometimes limited to a particular organ, disease, or gender. "Family medicine is an important part and cornerstone of American primary care for over 30 years," says Family Physician Herbert Pegues.

The practice of family medicine actually began around the time of World War II to fulfill the general function of medicine. Today, the evolving trends of family medicine tremendously help with the patient-doctor relationship. Dr. Pegues says, "I guess the byproduct is that we as family doctors like to spend quality time with our patients and some of these technologies provide more time to be spent."

Technologies such as patient online databases, and doctor's personal websites allow for better communication and self-awareness for you to be involved in your own healthcare decisions. "You're the physician of first contact, you're attempting to arrange a relationship over time,"

Dr. Pegues also says. Dr. Pegues refers to this relationship as a personal medical home.

Physicians also keep up with the current changes in family medicine with continual medical education.