Heidi
Which is more common? 'Private/personal doctors' I mean 'I think every family will have a doctor and they will not need to go to a hospital to see a doctor. Thanks
Nov 23, 2016 2:53 PM
Answers · 7
I'm not sure what you are asking. In the UK, we have general practitioners (GPs) they are sometimes referred to as family doctors. If the GP refers you to hospital, you will still see a doctor, who may be at a different level (junior doctor, registrar, consultant etc). Sometimes the latter group are referred to as hospital doctors. However, generically, they are all doctors in the UK. US usage is a bit different.
November 23, 2016
Hi Helen, hope this helps! Private doctor is normally used. I have never heard of a personal doctor, although maybe in some countries they use it, but Private is definitely correct. You don't need to put "private" in the sentence, but you can if you want to, if you feel that it's important. 'I think every family will have a private doctor and they will not need to go to a hospital to see a doctor.
November 23, 2016
I'm sorry, your grammar is confusing, and without context I can't understand what you are saying. "I think every family will have a doctor" is in the future and sounds like something that isn't true yet but is likely to happen. Referring only to the United States, this is a correct statement in correct English: "Most families have personal physicians, and get their primary care from their physician, not from a hospital." In the United States, almost all doctors are private in the sense that they do not receive their salaries from the government, they are not government employees. The middle-class norm is that most people have a "primary care provider" or "personal physician." Mine is part of a small business with two doctors and several nurse-practitioners, technicians, office staff. If I have a medical problem, I call my doctor. She decides what to do. "My foot hurts." "Tell me about it. OK, that doesn't sound bad, why don't you come in so I can look at it?" Or, she may tell me to see a podiatrist. Or, she may say "Go to the nearest hospital emergency room." In the U.S. hospitals are supposed to be used for serious medical conditions, and normally you "go to the doctor," you don't "go to the hospital." If you need an operation or something, your doctor arranges for you to be "admitted to" the hospital. A serious problem in the United States is that the law says that an emergency room can't turn you away, so people who don't have health insurance will go to the emergency room for small things because it is the only place they know they can get care.
November 23, 2016
what is your question? Helen.
November 23, 2016
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