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Editorial Comment
Joseph C. Konen, MD, MSPH
Arch Fam Med. 1993;2(8):865.
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Family physicians as primary care providers usually are the first to encounter patients with acute and chronic illnesses. In fact, such care, which is characterized by first contact, continuity, and longitudinal responsibility for patients that span all stages of the life cycle, demonstrates that family physicians are ideal candidates as sentinels for their patients and in community health surveillance.
Family physicians have always been able to monitor their practices for when epidemics begin and for the frequency of conditions that might plague their patients. Through a variety of community-oriented primary care activities, family physicians have the potential to influence the impact of illnesses on a community. Innate curiosity and vigilance through surveillance systems for extraordinary, as well as expected, events cannot only help a practice change its therapeutic activities (ie, using amantadine hydrochloride when faced with the possibility that a viral illness is more likely to be influenza A than
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Author Affiliations
Bowman Gray School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC
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