A family practitioner is a doctor who specializes in caring for people of all ages, at all stages of life. Rather than focusing on the treatment of one disease or patient population, family practitioners are often the doctors that people see for their everyday ailments, like cold and flu or respiratory infections, and health screenings. When necessary, family practitioners will provide referrals for conditions that require the expertise of another specialist.

The doctors may also provide physicals, inoculations, prenatal care, treat chronic diseases, like diabetes and asthma, and provide advice on disease prevention.

Hospice care & Palliative medicine specialists focus their practice on pain management, symptom relief and quality-of-life treatments to relieve the suffering of terminally ill patients. These doctors have specialized expertise in the treatment of patients with serious illnesses, advanced diseases and conditions resulting from catastrophic injury. Though often they work within hospice settings, they prevent and alleviate suffering appropriate at any age and stage of disease and can work alongside practitioners providing curative treatments.

Hospice care & Palliative medicine focuses on depression, pain, fatigue, constipation, nausea, shortness of breath, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping, among other conditions. They also alleviate psychosocial distress and other stressors that accompany terminal illnesses. They are skilled in guiding families through legal and ethical decision-making in end-of-life care and can address spiritual issues at these times. 

By coordinating care across settings by improving communication among providers, they improve access to information for families so that they understand the patient's condition and treatment options.