Primary Care

ATLANTA — Primary care optometrists can manage patients with mild traumatic brain injury in their practices without the need for vision therapy equipment, Heidi Bell, OD, FAAO, FCOVD, said at SECO 2024.

The results of the second annual national primary care scorecard suggest the field is facing major problems — poor funding and a diminishing workforce, among them — but increased attention on the issues may offer hope, according to experts.

Growing up, medicine seemed like a distant aspiration.

A free online training program for primary care providers focusing on knee osteoarthritis boosted participants’ confidence in diagnosing and managing the condition, according to data published in ACR Open Rheumatology.

Chronic stress can be detrimental to health, but primary care providers can help patients manage its causes and effects, according to experts.

Primary care physicians often recommend patients exercise, but because convincing them to get active can be easier said than done, it is often a good idea to start with short daily walks, according to experts.

Hope is what pulled me in to family medicine.

I entered family medicine because I wanted to treat people rather than organ systems or diseases. I did not want to be defined by the procedures that I did but by the impact that I had on peoples’ lives.

Earlier this year, a national report card noted the primary care field is headed for a crisis due to underinvestment, poor accessibility and other factors.

Growing up, I was one of eight. My dad was a police officer. My mom would stay at home. We didn’t have too much growing up, and we had to work hard.