Internal medicine is primary care medicine with a focus on treating adults only. Internal medicine specialists use a vast range of knowledge for diagnosing and treating patients having diverse types of medical issues. There are a lot of excellent physicians practicing internal medicine in Coachella.
Simply put, internal medicine is a primary health care branch of medicine especially meant for the adults and the health issue from which they may suffer. It can be anything ranging from migraine to chronic heart disease. Internal medicine is a branch that is responsible for treating adults no matter what kind of disease they are suffering from.
Internal Medicine vs Family/General Practice
A physician specializing in internal medicine is called an Internist. An internist is known as a general internist as well.
A lot of people get confused by the difference between internists and general or family physicians. So much so that the term General Physician is alternately used for an Internist as well. However, there is a remarkable difference between a general internist and a general physician. Both a General Internalist as well as a General Physician treat a variety of diseases. Let’s have a detailed look at that.
General Internist
A general internist is qualified in internal medicine. His expertise lies in treating adults having varying degrees of medical ailments. Just like General Physicians, General Internists are also primary health care providers seeing patients in hospitals as well as providing outpatient care. Since they treat adults, physicians practice internal medicine in rehab centers, hospices, and long-term care centers also. Internal medicine in Coachella is widely practiced under the supervision of internal medicine specialists.
What Does a General Internist Do?
A General Internist is responsible for:
- Diagnosing a wide variety of different diseases and ailments based on the existing symptoms and the medical history of the patient.
- Treating the diagnosis promptly in the best way possible.
- Providing proper medication, guidelines, and counseling to the patients regarding how to effectively manage their disease and have improved health.
- Providing palliative care to those who need it.
- Providing effective care to the patients who start suffering from mental health conditions or go into depression because of their medical conditions.
General Physician
While General Physicians and General Internists are often confused to be the same, General Physicians have a wide range of practices to follow. Unlike General Internists, General Physicians treat adults as well as children and perform minor surgical operations as well. They treat medical issues and provide complete medical care to their patients irrespective of the type and the level of ailment they are suffering from.
What does a General Physician Train In?
A General Physician trains in:
- Geriatric care
- Adult critical care
- Gynecology
- Pediatric care in ER
- Musculoskeletal medicine
- Inpatient hospital care
- Newborn care
- Surgery
- Obstetrics
Apart from all the above-mentioned areas, a General Physician also looks after dermatological issues, behavioral health, population health, wellness as well as disease prevention.
What do Internal Medicine Specialists Specialize In?
Internal medicine specialists are physicians who have specialized in treating adults suffering from different types of diseases. They prevent, diagnose as well as treat a varying number of diseases whether they are simple or complex. It does not matter whether the patient is suffering from a chronic illness or not, an internal medicine specialist is responsible for providing the best treatment possible for it.
Internalists specialize in not just internal and general medicine but they also rotate in different specializations as well working in in-patient and out-patient facilities. Internal medicine in Coachella has a lot of specialized doctors treating adults suffering from acute and chronic diseases.
Where Does a General Internalist Work?
A General Internalsit usually works with a large group of different other physicians specializing in other fields of medicine. Within the last few years, they have also started sitting in hospitals where they attend to their patients in an in-house facility. These physicians look after the patients who are admitted to the hospital and assist in treating them in the best way possible.
Different Sub Specialties of Internal Medicine
Internal medicine trainees have to train in the hospital for a year while working in different sub-specialties as well. They spend three months of their training in an intensive care unit also. Internal medicine specialists have different sub-specialties as well which may include but are not limited to cardiovascular diseases, oncology, and endocrinology.
For becoming a specialist, an internal medicine physician has to take additional training in that specific branch. The training may last between 1 to 3 years. It is important to have a 3 years residency before going for training in a sub-specialty.
An Internal medicine trainee has to gain experience in the following specialties:
- Pulmonary diseases
- Infectious diseases
- Rheumatology
- Hematology
- Endocrinology
- Nephrology
- Opthalmology
- Dermatology
- Psychiatry
- Critical care medicine
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Sleep medicine
- Otorhinolaryngology
- Palliative medicine
- Rehab medicine
- Geriatrics
- Oncology
An internal medicine specialist can gain experience in any of the following subspecialties:
- Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism
- Interventional Cardiology
- Gastroenterology
- Hematology
- Critial Care Medicine
- Oncology
- Nephrology
- Transplant Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology
- Rheumatology
- Pulmonary Diseases
What Kind of Diseases Does an Internal Medicine Specialist Treat?
If you are looking to get someone treated through internal medicine in Coachella, yet you are not sure regarding what kind of diseases and ailments are treated under it, here is detailed information about that.
A General Internist is responsible for diagnosing, managing, and treating a vast variety of simple, complex, chronic as well as acute diseases. These diseases range from heart diseases to cancer, blood issues to heart diseases, joint pains to kidney ailments among many.
If you are an adult suffering from any particular disease present in the list below, you should immediately go see a General Internist:
- Bronchitis
- Heart and Cardiovascular diseases
- Uterine bleeding
- Bronchitis
- Meningitis
- Asthma
- Stroke
- Myocardial infarction
- Migraines
- Liver failure
- Pancreatitis
- Respiratory issues
- Anal fissures
- Cancer
- Bell’s Palsy
- Dementia and any other disease which is causing cognitive impairment
How Do Internal Medicine Physicians Carry out The Needed Procedures?
A General Internalist treats his patients by making a diagnosis through required medical tests. The tests are either taken by the physician himself, or the patient has to go to a laboratory to get them conducted. The result of the tests and the overall condition of the patient determines what kind of treatment the patient requires.
These tests range from simple bloodwork to more complex tests for cancer screening and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases. General internists are specially trained in performing a variety of tests and procedures for the treatment of various issues. They have a dedicated team of nurses and other staff with them which helps them in carrying out different tests and performing the needed surgical as well as nonsurgical procedures.
When it comes to internal medicine, the physician’s main task is to provide the best treatment option to the patient while making sure that the patient's comfort is the main priority as well. A General internalist has to make sure that the treatment he is offering comes with the maximum outcome with a reduced amount of side effects.
Physicians who specialize in internal medicine perform different procedures which may include:
- IV insertion
- Placement of the NG tube
- Drawing of blood or Venipuncture
- Placement of a urinary catheter
- Endotracheal intubation
- Analyzing blood gases via arterial puncture
Other Internalists might also be trained in procedures like:
- Lumbar puncture
- Paracentesis
- Thoracentesis
Specialists of internal medicine in Coachella carry out different procedures to diagnose the disease and find the right way of treating it. You can get tested for any kind of allergy, hormonal imbalances, gastrointestinal problems, etc.
Internalists rely on a variety of different tools for testing which may include but are not limited to Ultrasound machines, MRI (Magnetic Resource Imaging), and CT (Computed Tomography) scans. Some of these procedures are slightly invasive as well. internalists use flexible fiber-optic tools for those parts of the body which are difficult to reach. These tools help in accurately identifying the medical ailment a patient might be suffering from.
How to Be an Internal Medicine Specialist?
Just like any other medical doctor or a physician, you have to have a 4 year’s bachelors as well as a 4 years medical degree to become a General internalist. You have to spend the first 2 years of your medical school in a classroom setting while the next 2 in a hospital set up to practically understand the nature of your job. This involves clinical rotations as well.
By the end of the first 2 years in your medical school, you should start applying for the USMLE to get a license.
Once you are done with your medical school and get registered as a physician, you have to get a postgraduate residence degree to finally become a General Internalist. Once you are done, you are qualified to get a certification and start practicing medicine in whatever setup you like.