Completing a Family Medicine Residency to Treat Adults

Written By: Jessica George

If you are studying to become a family doctor, you should be prepared to treat a variety of age groups. However, doing so requires you to be familiar with many different conditions and diseases, as different age groups are often affected differently. For example, there are many medical problems that affect adults but have less impact on children.

Common Adult Illnesses and Conditions

Make sure you are familiar with the following illnesses (along with many others) as you prepare to treat adults.

• Hypertension: This is also known as high blood pressure, in which the blood pushing against artery walls is so high that it could cause other health issues.
• High Cholesterol: Too much cholesterol can result in buildup in the arteries, which can affect the heart and blood flow.
• Stroke: This occurs when blood flow to the brain is temporarily cut off, causing brain cells to die. Depending on the severity, it can cause physical and cognitive issues.
• Diabetes: With this condition, the body has trouble processing food and converting it properly to energy.
• Kidney Disease: This occurs when the kidneys become damaged and can no longer filter blood properly.
• Hypothyroidism: With this condition, the thyroid cannot produce enough thyroid hormone to ensure that the body functions as it should.
• Urinary Tract Infection: This occurs when germs infect the area where urine is carried out of the body, including the bladder and the kidneys.
• Menopause: Only affecting women, this occurs when a woman's menstrual cycles stop, also causing an end to fertility.
• Migraine: This is a severe headache that is often accompanied by symptoms like temporary vision loss, pain behind the eyes or ears, nausea or vomiting.
• Anemia: This means a lack of healthy red blood cells, which leads to symptoms like fatigue because organs cannot function properly.
• Dementia: This leads to deterioration of mental abilities.
• Alzheimer's Disease: This is a form of dementia that limits thinking, behavior and memory.

These are just a handful of the conditions and diseases you will need to be familiar with. The more you work with patients, the more familiar you will become with recognizing and treating them. If you are interested in pursuing a family medicine residency, visit www.medstarhealth.org/.