Yeah ok, but you can't say that categorically, which was why I even posted the statement in the first place. People have been under the belief that primary care physicians have been the best when it comes to preventive care and addressing issues that they would otherwise be referred to specialists about. I definitely think there is some truth to that. In regards to the girl's comment about pcps having a broader scope of knowledge, I don't dispute that. But I would qualify her contention a little bit, especially since it was an absolute statement.
First off, I believe that medical knowledge is a metric that needs to be measured in its effectiveness, and in this case, that unit is patient outcomes. Studies done at Dartmouth have shown that patient outcomes are no better when seeing a specialist, despite specialists taking on an aggressive role in treating the patient. However, pcps do not fare better either, according to some of the studies. Moreover, despite a pcp having such a broad range of knowledge, I think care needs to be coordinated with the hospital and other midlevel practitioners, etc to yield positive outcomes. I definitely agree with you, but I think she also said something like, "People should see more generalists." That doesn't necessary give better care based on knowledge alone.
I honestly hope that makes sense.