A family medicine doctor is a primary care physician who is trained to provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages, from newborns to seniors. They are the only specialists qualified to treat most ailments and provide preventive care, including routine checkups, health-risk assessments, immunization and screening tests, and personalized counseling. Family medicine doctors complete extensive training beyond medical school, including a three-year residency, in-depth training across a human lifespan from birth to death, and potential additional fellowships and qualifications in concentrations like adolescent medicine, emergency medicine, faculty development, and more. During their residency, family medicine residents participate in integrated inpatient and outpatient learning and receive training in six major medical areas: pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry and neurology, surgery, and community medicine. Family physicians provide care for the same patients throughout their lives, and in many cases, they care for multiple generations of family members at the same time. They can also specialize in areas including sports medicine, emergency and urgent care, and public health. Family medicine physicians see patients with a broad range of health conditions and concerns, and they can work in hospital emergency departments, urgent care practices, and their own practices, for both urgent and non-urgent appointments.