A primary care physician (PCP) helps patients maintain overall health by focusing on preventive care, instead of specializing in a specific area of medicine. Included in this category are a family practice or general practice. A family practitioner is qualified to care for the entire family. A family practitioner can be board-certified and have training in a variety of subjects including obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine and psychiatry.

An internist in internal medicine can diagnose and treat disease with medicine. An internist is not a surgeon. There are several sub-specialties an internist can have, including: specializing in a particular organ, like the lungs or the kidneys; a particular disease, like diabetes; or a particular age group, like the elderly.

A pediatrician specializes in the overall well-being of children. Most pediatricians treat children from birth until adolescence or about 14 years old. Pediatricians can have subspecialties such as surgery or pediatric cardiology.

Non-physician primary care practitioner can be selected as PCP:

• Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP)
• Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
• West Virginia Certified Physician Assistants (PA-C)

You may change your PCP no more than once per calendar month.

Specialists are physicians who have been trained to treat a specific area of the body such as the lungs, heart, brain, or teeth. For people with asthma, doctors like allergists, immunologists, and pulmonologists focus on what’s triggering the asthma symptoms. If allergies are the main trigger, for example, an allergist will identify what you’re allergic to and help you combat the allergy. He may suggest avoiding the allergen, using medications, or starting allergy shots.