Question about internal medicine residency

[Future_D.O.]

I'm going back and forth between family and internal medicine, which I'm sure is so common.

My question is, even though internal medicine physicians do not in their day to day practice deliver babies, do they still learn how do do such in residency? I'm wondering because I would hope that internist physicians at least would not be completely incompetent when it came to situations such as these. Do they learn any surgical procedures?

Again, I understand that internists do not practice these procedures in their daily practice, but wanted to know if they are at least trained to do such if the necessity to do so ever came up. I always have the image of a woman giving birth on an elevator, and not having a clue what to do. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

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[dukescriteria]

No, internal medicine physicians are not at all trained to deliver babies during residency. They are not surgeons, so by definition they don't do any "surgical" procedures. However, they do plenty of less invasive procedures such as central line placement, paracentesis, lumbar puncture, etc. Fellowship-trained subspecialists also do cardiac catheterization, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, bone marrow biopsy, thyroid biopsy, etc.

It's actually not terribly common to go between FM and IM. Nearly all FM physicians do outpatient primary care for all ages, and ob/gyn. They are the quintessential primary care physician. Their training though usually includes some inpatient blocks, but is mostly outpatient. IM physicians see only adults, and can become hospitalists (100% inpatient), primary care physicians who may sometimes see hospitalized patients, or a fellowship-trained subspecialist, e.g. cardiologist or endocrinologist. They do not see pediatric patients or deliver babies. Their training is much more inpatient-heavy than FM residency.

 

[Rocher]

I understand that internists do not practice these procedures in their daily practice, but wanted to know if they are at least trained to do such if the necessity to do so ever came up. I always have the image of a woman giving birth on an elevator, and not having a clue what to do. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

You aren't trained in delivering babies in residency but you will get exposure in medical school. I would wait until you get into med school before you start trying to wrestle with career decisions. It's fun to think about but don't stress over it.

 

[Raryn]

I'm going back and forth between family and internal medicine, which I'm sure is so common.

My question is, even though internal medicine physicians do not in their day to day practice deliver babies, do they still learn how do do such in residency? I'm wondering because I would hope that internist physicians at least would not be completely incompetent when it came to situations such as these. Do they learn any surgical procedures?

Again, I understand that internists do not practice these procedures in their daily practice, but wanted to know if they are at least trained to do such if the necessity to do so ever came up. I always have the image of a woman giving birth on an elevator, and not having a clue what to do. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

I "learned" how to deliver a baby in medical school. By that, it means I was in the room for a couple of them. (and a WHOLE bunch of c-sections. Was the blackest cloud ever, I swear)

At no point since then have I even come close to a woman in labor. Thank jeebus.

 

[rokshana]

I'm going back and forth between family and internal medicine, which I'm sure is so common.

My question is, even though internal medicine physicians do not in their day to day practice deliver babies, do they still learn how do do such in residency? I'm wondering because I would hope that internist physicians at least would not be completely incompetent when it came to situations such as these. Do they learn any surgical procedures?

Again, I understand that internists do not practice these procedures in their daily practice, but wanted to know if they are at least trained to do such if the necessity to do so ever came up. I always have the image of a woman giving birth on an elevator, and not having a clue what to do. Maybe I'm just paranoid?

actually , no not so common...once you rotate in them, you will see that FM and IM are very different...

and if you want to deliver babies, you need to go into ob/gyn...in residency you will learn how to treat pregnant patients with medical issues but if they go in to labor, you're calling the ob

trust me there are plenty of doctors who will also have no clue as to what to do with a woman giving birth on an elevator...only tv doctors know every aspect of medicine...