Primary care practices provide health promotion, disease prevention, health maintenance, counselling, patient education, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses.

A primary care practice serves as the patient's first point of entry into the health care system and as the continuing focal point for all needed health care services.

Family medicine is the medical specialty which provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, genders, each organ system and disease types.

Family physicians oversee preventive care and are a patient's first entry point for all common medical complaints except emergency situations. When experiencing any non-emergency complaint, it is best to see a family medicine doctor and they can either help patients directly or refer them for further specialist care.