Can specialists do primary care?

#1 Dinosaur thinks not:

The problem is that specialist do not do primary care very well at all. They find high blood pressure and refer to the cardiologist. They see an elevated blood sugar and refer to the endocrinologist. They all say “Stop smoking” and think of it as tobacco counseling. Virtually none of them do immunizations, especially gynecologists, who like to think of themselves as providing Primary Care for women. (Obstetricians can’t treat ear infections to save their lives, even in a pregnant patient. I’ve cleaned up more than one of their misadventures, though most of them just refer to ENT.) “Family Practice” rendered by specialists is nothing more than a circular exercise in mutual masturbation.

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