If you go to those people and tell them you have pain and you need to know which muscles to strengthen and which muscles to stretch, whether to rest or work out or get an x-ray, etc. they tell you to go to a physical therapist. But you need a referral for a physical therapist, so you have to go to a primary care physician first. All they do is throw drugs at you so you basically have to lie about taking the drugs because no I don't need painkillers I need answers, and then you can finally get your referral and go to the physical therapist who can help.

I've had this experience once and my wife has had it thrice (different doctors, different injuries).

By asking primary care physicians to gatekeep drugs, we're introducing a bias where when you walk in the door they assume you're after drugs. I don't have a solution for how best to gatekeep drugs, I just wish I could find a doctor who was unencumbered by that task so they could focus on healthcare instead.