The Catalyst Issue 11 | Summer 2011 | Page 11

Family Medicine has been a nexus of care for generations of families in Central Texas

FamilyLife

Is your heart rate okay ? Check . Is your spouse hearing normally ? Check . Little Sally ’ s asthma under control ? What about Johnny ’ s sprained ankle ? Check . Now take a deep breath and relax if you ’ re under the care of a family medicine physician at Scott & White Healthcare .
amily medicine is part of
F primary care , the first contact a patient may have with the medical system . But instead of caring for a certain subset of the population , as internal medicine physicians do with adults and pediatricians do with children , family medicine doctors do it all . They treat all family members and all body systems . “ We take care of a lot of health issues that patients face throughout their lives ,” says Terry Rascoe , MD , who is vice chairman of the Scott & White Department of Family Medicine .
Family medicine doctors may deliver babies , look after earaches , manage diabetes , help diagnose cancer , and counsel patients who are considering hospice and end-of-life care . And those are just a few examples of the care they provide . “ We ’ re trained to handle 90 percent of what comes into our offices . And for the other 10 percent , we know who to ask ,” says Michael Reis , MD , interim chairman of the Department of Medicine , and associate regional chief medical officer , Central Regional Clinics . He is referring to his colleagues , the hundreds of medical and surgical specialists throughout the Scott & White Healthcare system .
Care from a family medicine physician is rapidly becoming even more important as the nation ’ s healthcare priorities shift from caring for sick patients to ensuring that patients stay well . Scott & White ’ s family medicine physicians provide a “ medical home ” for thousands of patients in Central Texas .
All in the family Melissa Woosley , of Waco , Texas , considers Dr . Rascoe part of her family . He has cared
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