Internal medicine - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Internal medicine is the branch and specialty of medicine concerning the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of diseases in adults, especially of internal organs.

Doctors of internal medicine, also called "internists", are required to have included in their medical schooling and postgraduate training at least three years dedicated to learning how to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases that affect adults.

Caring for the whole patient[change | change source]

Internists are trained to solve puzzling diagnostic problems and handle severe chronic illnesses and situations where several different illnesses may strike at the same time.

Subspecialties of internal medicine[change | change source]

Internists can choose to focus their practice on general internal medicine, or may take additional training to "subspecialize" in one of 13 areas of internal medicine, generally organized by organ system. Cardiologists, for example, are doctors of internal medicine who subspecialize in diseases of the heart. The training an internist receives to subspecialize in a particular medical area is both broad and deep. Subspecialty training (often called a "fellowship") usually requires an additional one to three years beyond the standard three year general internal medicine residency. (Residencies come after a student has graduated from medical school.)

In the United States, there are two organizations responsible for certification of subspecialists within the field, the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine.

The following are the subspecialties recognized by the American Board of Internal Medicine.[1]

The ABIM also recognizes additional qualifications in the following areas

  • Adolescent medicine[17]
  • Clinical cardiac electrophysiology[18][19]
  • Critical care medicine[20][21]
  • Geriatric medicine[22][23]
  • Interventional cardiology[3][4]
  • Sports medicine[24]
  • Transplant hepatology

Internists may also specialize in allergy and immunology. The American Board of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology is a conjoint board between internal medicine and pediatrics.

The American College of Osteopathic Internists recognizes the following subspecialties.[25]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ www.abim.org/cert/policiesssaq.shtm
  2. ↑ Park, M. K. (2014). Pediatric Cardiology for Practitioners E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Topol, E. J., & Teirstein, P. S. (2015). Textbook of interventional cardiology E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Redwood, S., Curzen, N., & Banning, A. (Eds.). (2018). Oxford textbook of interventional cardiology. Oxford University Press.
  5. ↑ Chopra, H. K., & Nanda, N. C. (2012). Textbook of cardiology (a clinical & historical perspective). JP Medical Ltd.
  6. ↑ Melmed, S., Polonsky, K. S., Larsen, P. R., & Kronenberg, H. M. (2015). Williams Textbook of Endocrinology E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  7. ↑ Yamada, T., Alpers, D. H., Kalloo, A. N., Kaplowitz, N., Owyang, C., & Powell, D. W. (Eds.). (2011). Textbook of gastroenterology. John Wiley & Sons.
  8. ↑ Wintrobe, M. M. (2008). Wintrobe's clinical hematology (Vol. 1). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
  9. ↑ Hoffman, R., Benz Jr, E. J., Silberstein, L. E., Heslop, H., Anastasi, J., & Weitz, J. (2013). Hematology: basic principles and practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  10. ↑ Anderson, R. M., Anderson, B., & May, R. M. (1992). Infectious diseases of humans: dynamics and control. Oxford University Press.
  11. ↑ Keeling, M. J., & Rohani, P. (2011). Modeling infectious diseases in humans and animals. Princeton University Press.
  12. ↑ McCrory, W. W. (1972). Developmental nephrology (Vol. 27). Harvard University Press.
  13. ↑ Phadke, K. D., Goodyer, P., & Bitzan, M. (Eds.). (2013). Manual of pediatric nephrology. Springer Science & Business Media.
  14. ↑ Deep, A., & Goldstein, S. L. (Eds.). (2018). Critical Care Nephrology and Renal Replacement Therapy in Children. Springer.
  15. ↑ Ernst, A., & Herth, F. J. (Eds.). (2012). Principles and practice of interventional pulmonology. Springer Science & Business Media.
  16. ↑ Firestein, G. S., Budd, R. C., Gabriel, S. E., McInnes, I. B., & O'Dell, J. R. (2012). Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  17. ↑ Alderman, E. M., Rieder, J., & Cohen, M. I. (2003). The history of adolescent medicine. Pediatric research, 54(1), 137-147.
  18. ↑ Josephson, M. E. (2008). Clinical cardiac electrophysiology: techniques and interpretations. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
  19. ↑ Horowitz, L. N. (1986). Clinical cardiac electrophysiology: History, rationale, and future. Cardiology clinics, 4(3), 353-364.
  20. ↑ Stevens, R. D., Hart, N., & Herridge, M. S. (Eds.). (2014). Textbook of post-ICU medicine: the legacy of critical care. Oxford University Press.
  21. ↑ Parrillo, J. E., & Dellinger, R. P. (2018). Critical care medicine e-book: principles of diagnosis and management in the adult. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  22. ↑ Cassel, C. K., Leipzig, R., Cohen, H. J., Larson, E. B., & Meier, D. E. (Eds.). (2003). Geriatric medicine: an evidence-based approach. Springer Science & Business Media.
  23. ↑ Fillit, H. M., Rockwood, K., & Young, J. B. (2016). Brocklehurst's textbook of geriatric medicine and gerontology e-book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  24. ↑ Brukner, P. (2012). Brukner & Khan's clinical sports medicine. North Ryde: McGraw-Hill.
  25. ↑ www.acoi.org/MembershipsSpecialty.html
  26. ↑ Cherry, S. R., Sorenson, J. A., & Phelps, M. E. (2012). Physics in nuclear medicine e-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  27. ↑ McParland, B. J. (2010). Nuclear medicine radiation dosimetry: advanced theoretical principles. Springer Science & Business Media.

Other websites[change | change source]

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