IM

[realruby2000]

This is a popular residency but whenever i ask anyone what do these guys do, they just say "its a general physician"....and that they do everything....anyone know anything else about INTERNAL MEDICINE and what they do, where do they work and how well are they comphensated? can they work in a hospital? if so what do they do actually? Also its a primary care residency right?

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[turtleboard]

Those who label internists as "general physicians" are kinda missing the point. A "general physician" is more of what a family practice physician does as he sees pediatric, adult, and geriatric patients. An internist deals with diseases that are most common to adults and, more often than not, the elderly. Internists tend to deal with patients who have multiple medical problems, which you won't generally find in a pediatrician's office or, quite frankly, even a family practice physician's office. Diseases most often seen by internists include hypertension, obesity, diabetes (mellitus), coronary artery disease, etc.

Internists are found on in-patient services where they're known as "hospitalists," our in out-patient settings in large muti-physician group practices, HMO centers, or in solo private practice. Compensation generally ranges and is probably most dependent on what region on the country the internist is practicing and what kind of patients he's seeing. An internist in a HIP center in the middle of New York City is probably not taking home as much as a guy in solo private practice or even group practice. I believe the average salary for internists, last I've seen, is somwhere around $140,000.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Don't forget probably the most important thing about internal medicine (at least in my opinoion) is that they are the sole residency that can lead to Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Endocrine, Hematology / Oncology, Rheumatology, and others. Although the basic internal medicine residency will lead to primary care practice or general hospitalists, a large number of residents will do felloships. I believe at most academic centers the number is around 60-70% go on to further training. Family practice residents DO NOT have this option.

 

[AJM]

I agree with turtleboard, and just want to add a couple of things. The main reason you won't get a solid answer as to what exactly internists do is because the field of internal medicine is incredibly large and diverse. As an internist, you can be a general internist and practice in a mainly outpatient setting doing what turtleboard described, or you can be a hospitalist where you focus on inpatient internal medicine, or you can subspecialize.

There are currently somewhere around 15 subspecialties of internal medicine, all with very unique features. Some of these specialties include cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine, rheumatology, hematology, oncology, critical care, etc. The salaries in each of these specialties are highly variable, although most pay more than general internal medicine.

Although the residency program of internal medicine is considered to be a primary care training program, many internal medicine residents do not plan to pursue careers as primary care physicians. The subspecialties are not by any means primary care, and lots of residents enter internal medicine programs with plans to subspecialize after residency. I'd venture to say that the only areas of internal medicine that are primary care are general outpatient (not inpatient) internal medicine, and possibly gerontology.

 

[simpleton]

Check out this website. It tells all about IM and give info for each sub-specialty.
Internal Medicine Link

 

[johnd]

Is it possible to do ER work after completing an IM residency?

 

[turtleboard]

In the old days when there was no such thing as the American Board of Emergency Medicine, yes, an internist or a family physician ("Generalist") could become Emergency Physicians. When the ABEM was established sometime in the 1970s, those internists and FPs who served as EM physicians for a certain period of time were "grandfathered" into the specialty and became Board-Eligible EM doctors.

Today, now that EM is an established medical specialty like ENT, Surgery, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics, you've got to do an EM residency to become Board-Eligible. "Grandfathering" into EM today is not possible.

 

[johnd]

I realize that you can't be a "board certified" emergency room doctor as an internist but I've heard rumors of IM graduates working in the ER for several years before going to private practice. They just can't do trauma cases but they do everything else.

Any truth to this?