Internal Medicine Vs Family Medicine

What is Internal Medicine?

The study, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses affecting the internal organs are the focus of the medical specialty known as internal medicine. The term “internist” refers to medical professionals who specialize in diagnosing, managing, and preventing diseases, especially serious long-term illnesses and complicated chronic problems in adults. Many internists may opt to concentrate on chronic illnesses or hereditary problems and frequently incorporate preventative care in their practice, even though they are capable of treating a wide range of illnesses and medical conditions in the majority of adults.

How does Family Medicine Work?

Family medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with treating and caring for all family members, including kids. Primary care doctors that specialize in family medicine treat patients of all ages for the majority of ailments. Additionally, they work to monitor health, prevent sickness, and meet patients for routine check-ups. Family medicine professionals treat patients of various ages, so they might, for instance, treat and care for both infants and elderly people.

Family Medicine and Internal Medicine have different characteristics

Doctors who practice family medicine and internal medicine are both primary care physicians; yet, the patient population they treat differs significantly between the two specialties. They differ from one another in a variety of other ways, including:

Training and Education

It frequently takes a lot of schooling to enter internal medicine or family practice. Candidates typically finish medical school as well as the three-year residency program in order to become one of these doctors. Doctors of internal medicine complete residency programs with a focus on treating hospitalized patients. They receive instruction in illness prevention, health promotion, general medicine, emergency care, and critical care. Internal medicine residents have the option to complete one to three years of fellowship training after residency to focus on a variety of medical specialties.

Internal medicine residents have the option to pursue one to three years of fellowship training after completing their residency program in order to focus on a particular medical field, such as:

• Critical care medicine
• Cardiovascular disease
• Hematology
• Neurology
• Oncology
• Ophthalmology
• Psychiatry
• Nephrology
• Dermatology
• Pulmonary disease
• Gynecology

Following residency, internal medicine residents have the choice to complete one to three years of fellowship study to concentrate on a number of medical specialties.

Candidates must successfully finish a three-year residency program in family medicine, six months of which are devoted to delivering treatment in an inpatient setting before they are eligible to practice this specialty. The type of residency program you choose may differ depending on where your medical school is located, and residency requirements may differ between states. A variety of specialties are covered in family medicine residencies, including training in:

• Internal medicine
• Musculoskeletal medicine
• Adult critical care
• Inpatient hospital care
• Dermatology
• Gynecology
• Radiology
• Surgery
• Urology
• Paediatrics
• Geriatrics
• Wellness

Primary Care Doctors

Primary care physicians can be specialists in internal medicine, family medicine, or pediatrics. When it comes to your medical treatment, a primary care physician is the first point of the definition. Your primary care physician should always be the first doctor you see when you are ill. When you get the flu, a cold, or back discomfort, as well as when you require annual check-ups and vaccines, you contact your primary care physician.

Primary care physicians treat particular conditions, and individual groups. For instance, pediatricians are general practitioners who solely treat children. Adults are treated by primary care physicians who specialize in internal medicine. Primary care physicians that treat both are family medicine practitioners. Each of them has received specialized training and has sufficient experience to serve particular populations.