General medicine can be defined as the permanent and continuous care of patients.

First resort function

Consists of receiving all patient requests in order to organize, assess and find a suitable solution. It can be: being relieved of suffering, being informed about an organic or functional anomaly or simply being reassured. The general practitioner’s diagnostic approach can therefore only be probabilistic and is based on the low prevalence of serious illnesses.

Comprehensive care function

This is the identification and analysis of a patient’s request, including socioeconomic factors, genetic heritage, climatic conditions … all this influences his attitude, whether at the time of the request or during adherence to treatment.

Continuity of care function

Consists of monitoring the patient, follow up with several sessions if necessary. Also concerns the use of a doctor on call via the number 15 or the specific number for the permanenceof the care set up in your region.

Care coordination function

It is the fact of having recourse to specialists if the general practitioner is not able to assume the totality of the care. This coordination of care also includes the various stakeholders in the health and social sector.

Public health function

We are talking here about prevention, information, health promotion. Thus, a general practitioner, who probably does not consider himself as “public administrative”, can contribute tothe development of prevention actions, which makes it possible to avoid the morbid consequences of an already declared disease or even to prevent the appearance of an affection.