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Jack W. Pearson, MD
Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis

JAMA. 1975;233(11):1163-1164.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

Dr Alper's letter evidences to me two areas of confusion that are common to many of us in the recent and remarkable interest revolving about "the primary physician" and "primary medical care."

The first is a matter of definition. In my mind, the primary physician is the doctor that the patient relates to and first contacts with problems that she (or he) perceives as related to ill health. This physician represents her initial contact with health services, assesses her condition, and coordinates her subsequent course whether it requires only primary care, which he can accomplish, or other levels of care by referral to appropriate providers. On the other hand (as implied in the term), primary care represents that level of medical care that any qualified physician should be capable of rendering and that will be adequate for the vast majority of a patient's needs and complaints. As observed . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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