Internal Medicine

What is Internal Medicine?

"Internal medicine are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across all stages of life, from health to complex illnesses.”  

The quotation above is from the American College of Physicians. It could also be explained that internal medicine is a primary care field, along with Pediatric Medicine (children) and Family Medicine (children and adults). All together, doctors who specialize in internal medicine are called Primary Medical Doctors (PMDs) or Primary Care Physicians (PCPs).

Physicians in primary care fields are experts in preventative health care. Preventative health care is all about helping healthy people stay healthy (and helping people with medical problems from developing even more medical problems). Much of preventative medicine is about ensuring patients are familiar with safe life practices. Recommending routine vaccines, and vaccines for unusual circumstances, like travel out of the country, which are appropriate for each individual patient is part of preventative healthcare, too. Finally, PCPs are also trained to prevent illness; a practice known as "screening", PCPs are trained to check for conditions which may not be fully present but are causing noticeable problems or symptoms. 

Why am I an Internist?

I chose medicine as a career because I believed that interactions with other healthcare providers and lifelong learning required of such a path would be intellectually stimulating.  I wasn’t wrong!

Why did I choose internal medicine over other primary care specialties? In a nutshell, I identified most strongly with internist attendings during my medical school days. But in many ways, I chose internal medicine because of the possibility of building long-term relationships with patients and their families - a perk that's not so common in other primary care specialties.

Medical Diagnoses and Treatment

Acid Reflux (Heartburn)
Addiction Disorders including opiates and nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, chew, vap, eCig)
Alzheimer’s disease
Allergies
Anxiety
Asthma
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Arthritis
Back Pain
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Bipolar Disorder I
Bipolar Disorder II
Borderline Diabetes
Bronchitis
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Constipation
*Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)  
Depression
Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 (DM 1)
Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DM 2)
Diarrhea
Edema
*Emphysema
Erectile Dysfunction (ED)
Family related stress
Fibromyalgia (FMG)
Gastritis
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GERD
Gout
Health Assessments
Heart Disease
Heart Failure
High Cholesterol
High Blood Pressure
Hypertension (HTN)
Hypothyroidism
Influenza (Prevention and Treatment)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Kidney Stones (Renal Stones)
Low Thyroid Function
Low Bone Density
Obesity
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obstipation
Osteoarthritis (OA)
Osteopenia
Osteoporosis
Performance Anxiety
Plantar Fasciitis
Pneumonia
Pre-Diabetes
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Prostate Infections
Rashes
Reactive Airway Disease
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STI, STD)
Shingles
Situational Anxiety
Smoking Cessation
Smoking-Related Lung Disease
Social Anxiety
Travel Medicine
Urinary frequency
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
Urinary Urgency
Vaginitis
Vitamin D Deficiency