Internal Medicine Associates, PC

What is a doctor of internal medicine?

Doctors of internal medicine (also called "internists") are doctors that treat adults.

Internists are unique in that our focus is on adult medicine. We don't deliver babies, we don't treat children, nor do we do surgery. Internists, just like general practitioner or family practitioner doctors, can be your primary care doctor.

Internists take care of people from their teen years through old age and have undergone special study and training that focuses on adult diseases and the prevention of. At least three of our seven or more years of medical school and postgraduate training are dedicated to learning how to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases primarily affecting adults. We internists care for our patients for life. Usually we see patients in our offices or clinics and sometimes in hospitals and nursing homes.



Clearing up some confusion

As doctors of internal medicine, we go by several names. We are also known as "internists," "general internists" or "doctors of internal medicine."

We are not "interns", as these are doctors who are trainees fresh out of medical school. Nor are we "family physicians", "family practitioners" (FP), or "general practitioners" (GP), whose training is not solely concentrated on adults and may include surgery, obstetrics and pediatrics.

The term Internal Medicine comes from the German name Innere Medizin, popularized in Germany 100 years ago to describe physicians who combined the science of the laboratory with the care of patients. Many early 20th century American doctors studied medicine in Germany and brought this medical field to the United States. Thus, the name "internal medicine" was adopted. Like many words adopted from other languages, it doesn't exactly fit an American meaning. And while many of us internists think we should change our name from "internists" to "Doctor for Adults", that too has its problems.

So for now, just know that we internists are doctors for adults.


Our subspecialties

Our training is both broad and deep: internists are equipped to deal with whatever problem the patient brings -- no matter how common or rare, or how simple or complex. We are specially trained to solve puzzling diagnostic problems. We handle severe chronic illnesses and situations where several different illnesses may strike at the same time.

Some internists choose to focus our practice on one area of internal medicine and take additional training to "subspecialize."

Cardiologists, for example, are doctors of internal medicine who subspecialize in diseases of the heart. Other subspecialties of internal medicine include:

 
oncology (cancer)
geriatrics (elderly diseases)
gasroenterology (colon and intestinal tract)
nephrology (kidneys
pulmonology (lungs)
rheumatology (arthritis)
nephrology (kidneys)
hematology (blood)
endocrinology (diabetes and other glandular disorders)
infectious diseases (such as AIDS)
allergy and immunology
adolescence
sports medicine


We care for the whole patient

We also bring to patients an understanding of wellness (disease prevention and the promotion of health), women's health, substance abuse, mental health, as well as effective treatment of common problems of the eyes, ears, skin, nervous system and reproductive organs.


For Life

In today's complex world, we aim to take care of our patients for life - in the office or clinic, during hospitalization and intensive care, and in nursing homes. When other medical specialists, such as surgeons or obstetricians, are involved, we coordinate their care for our patients and manage difficult medical problems associated with that care. In fact, we so often serve as medial consultants to physicians in other specialties that we've earned the nickname, "the doctor's doctor."