What is an Internist? What is Internal Medicine?

Internal medicine doctors, or internists, are referred to as doctors for adults, focusing on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of adults.

Internists are primary care physicians. They diagnose and manage complex, chronic illnesses and treat several different illnesses at the same time. They also provide preventive health care and treatment for common problems of the eyes, ears, skin, nervous system and reproductive organs. In addition, internists are asked to consult on difficult medical problems in adult patients by other doctors. For this reason, the American College of Physicians refers to internists as the “doctor’s doctor.”

The term internist can confuse people. Internists are not interns, who are doctors in their first year of residency. Internists have completed a minimum of seven years of medical school and postgraduate training. The special training that internists receive enables them to diagnose and treat medical conditions experienced by adults that require frequent monitoring, such as diabetes, asthma, emphysema, high blood pressure and heart disease.

The term internal medicine also can be cause for confusion. The name was originally derived from the 1800s German term “Innere Medizin,” used to describe a medical discipline that combined the science of the laboratory with the care of patients. Doctors of internal medicine focus on more than treating people’s internal organs.

Internists take pride in the long-term relationships they develop with their patients and the continuity of care they can provide. As experts in adult health care, internists are able to treat their patients from adolescence through advanced years.