Abstract
The article deals with a possibility of direct cooperation between a general practitioner and an occupational therapist in the care of patients with fine motor skills disorders. It highlights the important role of the general practitioner who search for patients with health disorders during preventive medical check-ups and who take care of patients with acute or chronic diseases.
General practitioners daily diagnose illnesses, which have been in the latent stage so far, and they identify the differences between various diseases based on their first symptoms. Early identification of the diagnosis and referral the patient to a specialist has a major impact on the patient's prognosis.
Relatively common disorders, which a general practitioner deals with, are disorders of fine motor skills. They are mostly considered to be symptoms of brain or spinal cord diseases, vascular, infectious, neurodegenerative, posttraumatic conditions, consequences of musculoskeletal system injury.
Direct cooperation between a general practitioner and an occupational therapist, neurosurgeon, traumatologist, orthopaedist, rehabilitation doctor, or physiotherapist is common. It seams that physicians are often not informed enough about the occupational therapy subfield.
Occupational therapy focuses especially on care of patients with fine motor skills disorders. Direct cooperation of a general practitioner and an occupational therapist would guarantee professional, effective and fast help to patients and their fast return to active life and self-sufficiency.