My ID specialist is a doctor of internal medicine and with a special in infectious diseases. As such should she be my primary physician? I remember metioning to her the first time I saw her that high blood pressure ran in my family and she said if I start having problems with that to see a primary care physician. When I began seeing her, I thought that she would be my primary care doctor since everything that happens could affect the HIV and medications I take. Was I wrong in believing that?

Thanks for your post.

This could be answered either way. Some HIV specialist do lots of primary care for their HIV patients (we do), others don't.

An additional (and sometimes unwanted) level of concern is whether your insurance company mandates that non-specialists do the primary care, with referals to the specialist.

So, talk to your doctor about her usual care patterns and your needs.

Thanks for reading. BY