What are internists?
Internists are certified doctors who only treat adults and not children or adolescents. They are internal medicine practitioners, i.e., their care focuses on conditions that affect the body's internal organs. Internists can treat a variety of conditions. Some, however, choose to become specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, hematology, immunology, infectious disease, etc.
An internist focuses on the scientific or laboratory approach to medicine and examines how bodily symptoms interact, affect, and work together. In the body, all systems are interconnected. For example, high blood pressure can result in heart disease, or having diabetes can increase the risk of multiple health conditions. Thus, internists are experts at managing one or more chronic diseases affecting a patient.
Typically, internists also conduct regular wellness exams and health screenings for both men and women and help patients lead the healthiest life possible. An internist can treat chronic allergies, high blood pressure, diabetes, sinus infections, high cholesterol, etc.
At the outset, an internist's practice seems similar to a general practitioner's. They are also both primary care doctors. However, differences exist. Internists treat only adults, while a general practitioner attends to people of all ages. Additionally, an internist's education is focused on internal medicine, while a general practitioner, in addition to internal medicine, also trains in other types of treatment, such as pediatrics.
Educational qualifications of an internist
Internists follow a training route akin to any other doctor of medicine. Their training begins in medical school. Before starting medical school, they must hold an undergraduate degree or complete three years of college, where one studies biology, chemistry, or other fields relevant to medicine.
Subsequently, they must clear a Medical College Admission Test, upon which they begin studying at a medical school. They spend four years acquiring medical training and education while also undergoing rotations in medical practices and hospitals. After getting their medical degree, internists must join a residency program to receive hands-on training to prepare for their lives as doctors.
The residency lasts at least three years, or maybe even longer, if they choose to specialize in surgery. All doctors must pass a licensing examination in their first year of residency. If they wish to specialize further, internists can opt for a fellowship lasting up to three years.
What are the internal medicine subspecialties that aspiring physicians can pursue?
Internal medicine offers 23 subspecialties, each focusing on specific diseases, organ systems, or patient populations. Subspecialists undergo fellowship training and must pass certification exams from boards like the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).
- Adolescent medicine: Treats patients aged 10–21, focusing on primary care, reproductive health, eating disorders, and substance misuse.
- Adult congenital heart disease: Manages heart defects in adults, often coordinating with multidisciplinary teams.
- Advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology: Treats complex heart failure and transplant patients.
- Allergy and immunology: Diagnoses and manages allergies, asthma, and immune disorders for all ages.
- Cardiovascular disease: Treats heart and blood vessel diseases, focusing on prevention and management.
- Clinical cardiac electrophysiology: Specializes in heart rhythm disorders using pacemakers and other devices.
- Critical care medicine: Cares for critically ill patients, often in ICUs.
- Endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism: Manages hormonal and metabolic disorders.
- Gastroenterology: Treats digestive system diseases and performs procedures.
- Geriatric medicine: Focuses on elderly patients and age-related conditions.
- Hematology: Diagnoses and treats blood disorders.
- Hospice and palliative medicine: Provides end-of-life care and symptom management.
- Hospital medicine: Specializes in inpatient care.
- Infectious disease: Manages infections and epidemics.
- Interventional cardiology: Treats heart diseases using catheter-based techniques.
- Medical oncology: Focuses on cancer treatment and care.
- Nephrology: Manages kidney disorders and dialysis.
- Neurocritical care: Treats life-threatening neurological conditions.
- Pulmonary disease: Manages respiratory disorders like asthma.
- Rheumatology: Treats joint, muscle, and connective tissue diseases.
- Sleep medicine: Diagnoses and treats sleep disorders.
- Sports medicine: Manages sports-related injuries without surgery.
- Transplant hepatology: Focuses on liver and digestive organ transplants.
Each subspecialty requires additional fellowship training and existing ABIM certification in internal medicine or a related field.
What conditions do internists treat?
Some of the most common conditions treated by an internist may include the following:
- Diabetes management: When the body fails to produce adequate insulin, it results in high sugar levels in the blood, causing diabetes. Depending on the type and severity of diabetes, internists may recommend daily insulin injections to meet the body's insulin requirement. They may also recommend medicines to improve insulin effectiveness, increase insulin production, or slow down glucose absorption from the gut. Internists may also suggest diet changes, exercise, and weight loss solutions to manage diabetes effectively.
- Respiratory diseases: Internists help prevent, diagnose, and treat various respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive lung disease, asthma, lung cancer, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and complex lung infections. They work to manage the severe symptoms and help the patient lead a good quality of life.
- Chronic venous disease management: Healthy veins supply blood from different body parts to the heart. They do it with the help of tiny valves that open and close accordingly to pump the blood toward the heart. If the valves become weak or damaged and stop working, they fail to pump blood toward the heart. As a result, the blood flows backward and pools near the valves inside the veins. It commonly occurs in the leg veins. The condition is called chronic venous disease. Internists can identify the affected veins and provide proper treatment to strengthen the valves and improve blood flow.
- Hypertension: Chronic hypertension (also called high blood pressure) can significantly affect your arteries and lead to various cardiovascular diseases. Internists can help manage and treat high blood pressure with proper medications, lifestyle changes, and maintaining a healthy body.
- Wound care management: Internists can treat wounds that don't heal even after two weeks and injuries that have not healed entirely after six weeks. They customize their care per the patient's needs and ensure thorough healing.
- Heart disease: Internists can identify, manage, and treat various conditions affecting the blood vessels and the heart, including abnormal heart rhythms and heart attacks. Depending on the severity of the disease, internists may recommend medical procedures or medications and suggest necessary lifestyle changes to keep the heart healthy.
- Critical care medicine: Internists are trained in critical care medicine and care for severely ill patients in hospital intensive care units. They work to stabilize a critically ill patient, make a thorough diagnosis, and provide comprehensive treatment to cure the illness holistically.
How do we sustain internal health?
Keeping your internal organs healthy prevents diseases and promotes overall well-being. Here are some general tips to help maintain the health of your internal organs:
- Eat a balanced diet: Consume various fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats. Limit processed foods, sugary drinks, excessive saturated fats, and refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, and white rice). Also, try to reduce excessive salt intake as it leads to elevated blood pressure, posing a risk for heart and kidney complications.
- Stay hydrated: Ample hydration is essential for supporting kidney function, as water removes waste from the blood. Meanwhile, dehydration can impede this process, allowing toxins to accumulate and potentially harm your kidneys and liver. Hence, drink at least four to six glasses of water daily.
- Exercise regularly: Regular physical activity benefits all your internal organs. It helps decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels, strengthen your heart, increase muscle strength, improve sleep, and maintain a healthy weight. You need not adhere to a rigorous exercise regimen; 30-minute moderate-intensity exercises like gardening or walking also do the job.
- Avoid smoking and limit alcohol: Smoking raises the chance of various health problems, including lung disease, kidney, and heart disease. So, avoiding it is your best bet. Additionally, minimizing alcohol consumption can reduce liver damage.
- Be cautious with medications: Mixing medications and supplements or exceeding recommended doses can harm your liver, as it is primarily responsible for metabolizing drugs. Also, excessive intake of herbal or vitamin supplements can affect your kidneys, leading to organ damage or interference with prescribed medications. Thus, it is better to seek medical advice if you are unsure of your current medication regimen.
- Get regular check-ups: Schedule routine check-ups with your healthcare provider for screenings and preventive care. Early detection of health concerns can help prevent complications and improve outcomes.
Reasons to visit an internist
Internal medicine is a kind of primary care. One of the most common reasons to visit an internist near you could be if you are seeking a primary care physician. An internist can manage most, if not all, of your medical conditions. Following are some reasons why you must visit an internist:
- An internist can ensure you get continued care: Patients can seek guidance from their internists throughout the healthcare process. Internists provide their patients with handhold support through every treatment step, such as diagnosis, testing, follow-ups, and establishing a care plan. For example, a routine annual exam may indicate high blood sugar, leading to diabetes. The internist can then pivot the course of your treatment accordingly.
- Internists can cater to your medical needs in a timely and efficient way: Because they know your medical history and your overall health conditions, internists can help patients deal with any issues and devise timely solutions, even between check-ups.
- Internists can account for many facets of preventative medicine: Once people turn adults, they visit an internist. More often than not, this relationship continues for years, and internists become the first point of contact for any medical issue. They typically act as primary care physicians and are often frequented by all adult members of families. This relationship allows internists to create comprehensive treatment plans that ensure health maintenance.
Find a top-rated internist near you in Riverside, CA
Patients generally stay in the care of an internist for years on end, seeking treatment for medical issues up until their old age. Thus, building a rapport and a comfortable patient-doctor relationship is paramount. To ensure this, you must find a practitioner that fulfills your requirements. Worry not; Zocdoc can help you simplify your tiring and extensive search.
You have to enter the type of specialization you seek, the location, date, and kind of insurance plan into the search bar of the Zocdoc homepage. Additionally, to streamline your search, you can add information about the symptoms you are facing. After entering the details, a list of doctors' profiles matching your choices will appear. After streamlining your search, you can check out their profiles and narrow your options.
You can learn about a practitioner's educational qualifications, areas of expertise, awards, accreditations, and experience through their profiles. You can also view our verified patient ratings and reviews to understand the particular physician's work better. Our insurance plan filter helps you further find an in-network internist in your vicinity. We also have an option for video consultation in case you cannot visit them in person.
Our online patient support center can help you locate internists who accept your insurance. Through Zocdoc, you can link your medical, dental, and vision insurance plans to your account, though you can use only one plan per appointment.
You can include details about your secondary insurance in the appointment notes if you have multiple insurance plans. Alternatively, you can input your secondary insurance information directly if your healthcare provider uses Zocdoc’s Intake forms.
After you have decided upon the practitioner of your choice, you can book an appointment. Thanks to Zocdoc, finding an internist near you in Riverside is now easier! Booking appointments on Zocdoc is simple, secure, and 100% free!
Internist statistics in Riverside, California
According to a 2021 annual health report by the California Health Care Foundation, internal medicine was the most popular field for doctors in California, with around 9,663 active patient care physicians in 2020.
The American Association of Medical Colleges, in their California Physician Workforce Profile, found that in 2017, the total number of active doctors of internal medicine in the state was about 15,084. The profile also revealed approximately 2,602 people for every such physician in the state. Of the internist workforce, 39.8%, i.e., around 5,990 physicians, were females. About 4,504 physicians (29.9% of all internists) were in the 60+ age group.
As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, in May 2023, California had the second-highest number of general internal medicine physicians, at around 5,940.
Sources
California Health Care Foundation
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Medical News Today
Raleigh Medical Group
Millennium Medical Care
Johnson Memorial Health
Orlando Clinical Research Center
Save Lives Tomorrow
Cleveland Clinic
St. George’s University School of Medicine
