Welcome to Medina Valley Family Practice. We hope this resource will be helpful to you. This page is intended to be a source of information about the practice as well as any questions you may have. This site also allows you to access a library of information from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
     Our practice is a broad spectrum active family practice in Medina County, Texas. Family physcians see patients in the setting of the family unit. Rather than dividing family health care, a family physician integrates and coordinates a famiy's health care. This results in more efficient and effective medical care.
     What is a family physician? What makes our style of medical practice unique? First of all, family physicians are medical specialist. Our specialty is called "family medicine." It is one of the specialities officially recognized by the American Medical Association and the American Board of Medical Specialties.                                                                                  To become a physcian, you typcially must have four years of college, then four years of medical school. Once you graduate from medical school, you need to complete a training program called residency. The residency program for family medicine is three years.
     One of the things that is unique about family physcians is that we treat patients of all ages. We are also quailifed to practice in all major areas of medicine. We do health exams, prescibe tests, treatments, and medications. We also teach patients how to avoid disease and injury. Family physicians also perform many procedures including surgery and delivery of babies.
     Among the skills that family physicians learn in residency are: radiology and internal medicine, including how to treat pulmonary disease involving the lungs, cardiology problems involving the heart, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and rheumatology involving the muscles and joints of the body.
     The family medicine residency also teaches family physcians medical skills such as dermatology which is diagnosing and treating skin problems including burns, skin cancer, acne or removing moles. Family physcians who complete a residency are qualified to perform a variety of health exams in addition to regular physical exams. They perform sports medicine exams, electrocardiograms to mesure the heartbeat, and many other tests. Family physicians are qualified to practice pediatrics. In fact, caring for children is a big part of what a family physician does. Many family physicians also provide care for women during pregnancy, and many also deliver babies. Family physicians set borken bones and suture cuts. We help patients who want to quit smoking, control their weight, or deal with problems like drinking, drug addiction, or abuse in the family. Teaching patients how to prevent disease and injuries from happening is a big part of the family physician's job.
     It takes more than educaiton and certification to become a good family physician. You have to like working with people of all ages and backgrounds. You have to take the time to do careful detective work so you can make a correct diagnosis of your patient's problems. In other words, you have to be more than just "book smart," you have to be "people smart." At Medina Valley Family Practice that is what we strive to be.