What is &what does an internist do? Internists are specialists / experts in adult ( teen years through old age) health care Prevent, find and treat illness in adults Care for the whole patient Ready to care for any adult sickness (common/strage or easy/hard it is) Always learning more about : heart & blood vessels, cancer, diabetes, digestion, liver, kidneys, blood, hormones, infections, rheumatism, adolescence, old age
What is & what does an internist do? Care for life See patients in offices/clinics, hospitals, nursing home Manage their care even when others doctors are involved Often other doctors ask for help with their own patients nickname, “the Doctor’s Doctor”
Clearing Up some confusion SEVERAL NAMES Doctor of Internal medicine Internist General Internist NOT Interns Family Physicians GP
Internal Medicine Subspecialty Fields AREA Heart & Blood Vessels Cancer Diabetes Lungs Rheumatism Allergy Liver Digestive Kidneys Blood Infections Old Age Teenagers SUBSPECIALTY Cardiologist Oncology Endocrinology Chest Physician / Pulmonology Rheumatology Allergy & Immunology Hepatology Gastroenterology Nephrology Hematology Infectious Disease Geriatrics Adolescent Medicine These subspecialties require completion of a 3-year internal medicine residency and additional fellowship training of up to 3 years.