A family practice survey in Ventura County

Seventy-five percent of family practitioners in Ventura County, California, responded to a seven-page mailed questionnaire. One third of the practitioners do no obstetrics. The physicians counsel seven patients to every delivery performed and to every surgical procedure performed. Family practice consists of medicine and pediatrics, rather than surgery, obstetrics and psychiatry. Family practitioners use referrals to community health care services in a limited fashion. Lack of information about availability of community resources may be the reason.