Family practice is the branch of medicine concerning the total health care of the person and the family. A family practice physician can have a varied and extensive medical background, including internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and geriatrics. A family physician has the skills and knowledge to provide care and health maintenance education for all ages. This physician is trained to diagnose and treat each member of the family, no matter what the problem.

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are emphysema, broncho-esophagology, pneumonia, osteoarthritis , bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, asthma, pectus excavatum, osteoporosis, infection, diabetes, cancer, acne, alzheimer's disease, hypertension, autism, yeast infection, strep throat, anemia, and aneurysm.

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including wart removal and mole removal.

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including bone density test, faa-flight physicial, physicial / check up, physicial, biopsy, computed axial tomography (ct or cat scan), magnetic resonance imaging (mri), electrocardiogram (ecg or ekg), ultrasound, x-ray, blood test, upper gi (barium swallow), stool test, lower gi (barium enema), electrolyte test, microbiological culture, and ph probe test.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. The United States has 117,343 practicing family doctors. Broken out by state, family practice doctor density in Alabama is 1,560, in Alaska is 541, in Arizona is 2,252, in Arkansas is 1,385, in California is 12,950, in Colorado is 2,479, in Connecticut is 663, in Delaware is 404, in District of Columbia is 291, in Florida is 6,554, in Georgia is 3,129, in Hawaii is 554, in Idaho is 744, in Illinois is 4,685, in Indiana is 3,000, in Iowa is 1,947, in Kansas is 1,528, in Kentucky is 1,748, in Louisiana is 1,335, in Maine is 902, in Maryland is 1,478, in Massachusetts is 1,841, in Michigan is 4,766, in Minnesota is 3,198, in Mississippi is 1,056, in Missouri is 2,312, in Montana is 545, in Nebraska is 1,099, in Nevada is 756, in New Hampshire is 647, in New Jersey is 2,246, in New Mexico is 1,041, in New York is 4,603, in North Carolina is 3,404, in North Dakota is 502, in Ohio is 4,686, in Oklahoma is 1,885, in Oregon is 1,692, in Pennsylvania is 5,625, in Rhode Island is 357, in South Carolina is 1,965, in South Dakota is 468, in Tennessee is 2,251, in Texas is 7,951, in Utah is 914, in Vermont is 342, in Virginia is 3,092, in Washington is 3,764, in West Virginia is 1,086, in Wisconsin is 2,841, and in Wyoming is 279.