Internal medicine wards at the hospital: A hospitalist acts as the primary responsible physician for admitted patients and consults other specialties as needed with the goal of stabilizing patients before discharge.
Academic setting: An internal-medicine attending works at a teaching hospital and spends a considerable amount of time teaching medical students, training residents, supervising research, and fulfilling other administrative duties.
Careers in internal medicine may also vary drastically depending on the practice setting.
Subspecialty-trained internists may also have to perform more extensive procedures, including coronary angiographies, central venous catheter insertions, or endoscopies (e.g., ERCP, bronchoscopy).
Managing patients with treatments such as medications, physical therapy, and minor interventional procedures (e.g., catheter-based procedures).
Using various tests to confirm diagnoses, including:.
Comprehensive physical examination, including techniques such as observation, auscultation, percussion, and palpation.
Internists rely heavily on clinical skills, such as:.
Internists provide a wide range of care for their patients, from managing acute conditions to chronic illnesses.
After completing the residency program, internists can continue training in a wide variety of subspecialty fields, including:Ī strong foundation in internal medicine is usually considered essential for all physicians, regardless of their specialty! What does an internist do?.
Training involves a 3-year residency training program, at the end of which residents are eligible for board certification in internal medicine.
Decision-making relies on evidence-based medicine, clinical reasoning, and the quality of the patient-physician relationship.
Diseases treated by internists commonly involve multiple organ systems, which is why taking a thorough patient history and physical examination are often considered the most important diagnostic tools for providing a complete assessment.
Internal medicine is a broad field with a general focus on preventing, diagnosing, and treating a wide array of diseases in adult patients.
Internal medicine overview What is internal medicine?