Primary care providers are comprised of several different types of healthcare professionals.

Here are some of the options you may have in your area:

• Family physicians. Family doctors are trained to prevent, diagnose, and treat conditions in people of all ages, including children and older adults. They can perform a wide range of services from immunizations and disease diagnosis to minor surgery.
• Internists. Doctors of internal medicine are specially trained to prevent, diagnose, and treat health conditions that affect adults of all ages. They don’t treat children.
• Pediatricians. Pediatricians are doctors who specialize in treating babies, children, and teenagers up to the age of 21.
• Geriatricians. Geriatricians are doctors who specialize in treating older adults. They can provide care for a specific age-related condition, or they may integrate your care if you’re dealing with more than one condition.
• Obstetrician/gynecologists (OB-GYN). OB-GYN doctors specialize in taking care of women’s reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum issues, and menopause.
• Nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are clinical nurses trained to prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide variety of health conditions. They can prescribe medications, create treatment plans, and help patients manage their care. They can work independently from a doctor and in their own scope of practice.
• Physician assistants. Physician assistants are healthcare professionals who can prevent, diagnose, and treat health conditions in patients of all ages. Because physician assistants can perform many of the same services as a doctor, they have become increasingly important providers of primary care. However, they can’t work independently from a doctor. They need a doctor to sign off on or prescribe medications.