In the preclincal years we get an overview of the diseases in each organ system, but I'm wondering if there's other resources out there to find out exactly what diseases each specialty treats. I can imagine there's considerable overlap. This info will help in deciding on a particular specialty.
check out this website:
http://www.aamc.org/students/cim/specialties.htm
In general, with "most commons" first:
Allergy & Immunology - refractory asthma & allergies, immunological deficiencies (usually peds)
Anesthesiology- elective surgery, other surgeries, intubations, pain management
Cardiology - MI risk stratification, CHF, post-MI care, invasive (cath) vs non (med)
Dermatology - acne, mole checks, psoriasis, eczema... what rash is this consults.
Emergency medicine - whatever walks through the door, from hungry to the dead
😎 (initial diagnosis and stabilization)
Endocrinology - Diabetes management, thyroid d/os, child - developmental stuff
Family - preventative medicine, lots of chronic dz
Gastroenterology - screening and problem colonoscopies, IBD, IBS, ulcer/GERD management
Geriatric - any old people dz, usually the triad of diabetes, heart dz, and copd
Heme-Onc - anemias, sickle cell, diagnosis and management of blood dyscrasias and frank leukemia/lymphoma, divided into liquid and solid.
Infectious Disease - HIV/AIDS management, regulation of antibiotic use, refractory infection
Internist - similar to family, preventative plus lots of CHF, afib, diabetes, copd....
Nephrology- pending renal failure, chronic renal failure (from htn, DM, lupus, MM), acute renal failure
Neurological Surgery - spine and brain surgery follow-up and cases, usually upon Neurology referral
Neurology- migraines, seizure d/o, Alzheimer's, parkinson's, stroke, ALS
Nuc Medicine - diagnose and treat inflammatory, bleeding, and cancerous conditions using radioactive substances. Most common - RBC scan to find bleeding, PET scan looking for mets.
Ob/gyn - pap smears, birth control, healthy pregnants, sick pregnants, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, endometriosis, fibroids
Opthalmology - diabetes screens, glaucoma screens, refraction, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy
Orthopedic Surgery - fractures, bone and muscle tumors, muscloskeletal badness like FOP
Otolaryngology - septal deviation, obstructing tonsils in kids, chronic sinusitis, hearing loss, head and neck cancers
Pathology- diagnosing patients and their tissue, no particular dz as they are the diagnostic bookend of medicine (where EM is the beginning)
Pediatrics - well child, asthma, eczema, congenital probs, subspecialty diseases
PM&R - pain syndromes, recovery from surgery, stroke, impringement, etc
Psychiatry- Depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline PD
Pulmonary & Critical Care - asthma, COPD, pulm fibrosis, any MICU player
Rad-Onc - Radiation to treat malignancies, other disorders, most common is combo breast cx radiation, palliative spine, no real dz besides cx
Radiology - diagnosticians, no disease of their own, usually rule outs
Rheumatology - arthritis, lupus, vasculitis, sarcoidosis, scleroderma
Surgery - whatever is resectable
Urology - incontinence, prostate cx, kidney stone probs, neurogenic bladder
So everyone has their own disease niche. The ones that cross over are the ones that cross over in the body (immunologic (asthma, lupus) or cancerous diseases (leukemia, mets)), and a diagnostician can theoretically research whatever he or she chooses.
I hope that helps. It helped me waste some time, at any rate
😛
P.S. Notice the stuff you see the most is usually the most uninteresting
