what is difference between doctor and general physician? General physicians are consultants who care for patients with special or difficult problems. General physicians only see patients who are referred to them by other doctors, usually by the patient's own general practitioner.||| Is physician and doctor the same? A physician is a medical doctor, either an M.D. or D.O., who has completed graduate training to provide health care. A physician may be referred to as a doctor. ... So while all physicians are doctors, not all doctors are physicians.