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Who is an internist?

An internist is a medical practitioner who specializes in illness prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of internal organs, including the kidneys, heart, lungs, and liver. They can also effectively treat conditions like ear infections and rashes. Internists primarily focus on providing long-term care to adult patients and do not work with children or adolescents.

What do internists do?

On your first visit to an internist near you, the internist may discuss general medical history, ongoing medications, and symptoms. They may check your vital signs, such as blood pressure, body temperature, and heart rate. Then, internists may conduct a physical exam, which can include the following:

• Checking your general appearance, including posture and movement
• Checking your heart for unusual sounds, irregular heartbeat, and heart murmurs
• Examining your breathing patterns to check for wheezing, shortness of breath, or crackle symptoms
• Checking your nails and skin
• Examining your eyes, nose, mouth, throat, and ear
• Internists may even recommend additional screening tests for a comprehensive disease diagnosis. These may include bone density, lipid profile, imaging, or urinalysis tests. 

Internists analyze the results of the screening tests and then create an appropriate treatment plan that suits your health condition. They may even ask you for a follow-up visit to monitor the treatment progress or refer you to a different specialist for further care and treatment.

In case of referral, internists coordinate with specialists to prevent medication contraindications and ensure continuity of care. They are proactive in their approach to medical care and often recommend lifestyle and diet changes or medications for optimum treatment outcomes. Internists even help chronically ill patients overcome mental health issues such as depression.  

What are the educational qualifications and training requirements of internists?

To become an internist, students must complete a four-year undergraduate degree. After that, they must attend an accredited medical institution and pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The students earn their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree upon completing their medical school education.

The subsequent phase of becoming an internist entails a three-year residency program in internal medicine. Throughout their residency, the residents gain practical internal medicine experience while supervised by seasoned physicians. The residency may encompass rotations in teaching hospitals, intensive care units, outpatient clinics, subspecialty clinics, or community medical practices. During this residency period, the residents develop the skills to diagnose and treat various adult illnesses. Upon successfully finishing these three years of training, residents become eligible for board certification in internal medicine.

The final step in this journey is to achieve board certification by passing an American Board of Internal Medicine examination. This certification qualifies the physicians to practice general internal medicine. Most internists practice general internal medicine, fulfilling roles as primary care physicians. However, some internists also opt for further specialization by pursuing additional training in a specific branch of internal medicine.

Internists who opt for subspecialization must undergo additional education, ranging from one to four years. Some of the sought-after areas of specialization among internists include the following:

• Cardiovascular care: Identification and management of cardiovascular conditions.
• Critical care: Providing care for critically ill patients, often including life support.
• Endocrinology: Identifying and managing diseases that impact the endocrine system, including hormonal disorders and diabetes.
• Gastroenterology: Diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract.
• Geriatric medicine: Focusing on healthcare for elderly patients.
• Hematology: Diagnosing and treating conditions related to the blood.
• Infectious diseases: Identifying and managing diseases caused by microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria.
• Nephrology: Diagnosing and treating kidney-related diseases.
• Oncology: Diagnosing and treating both malignant and benign tumors.
• Pulmonary/respiratory medicine: Diagnosing and treating diseases involving the respiratory system and lungs.
• Rheumatology: Identifying and managing conditions that affect bones, joints, and muscles.

Who should see an internist?

Here are the types of patients who should consider seeing an internist.

• Healthy adults: Regular checkups help prevent illnesses, assess hereditary risks, and offer advice on diet and lifestyle for long-term well-being.
• Adults with mild conditions: The internist near you can guide treatments and lifestyle adjustments for allergies and mild asthma.
• Adults with chronic conditions: Internists manage serious chronic illnesses, helping patients maintain a better quality of life through careful monitoring and tailored treatments.
• Adults seeing specialists: They coordinate care with specialists, ensuring all health needs, including unrelated ones like mental health, are addressed.

Differences between a family medicine doctor and an internist near you 

Family medicine is focused on treating patients of all ages, offering care from infants to seniors. Family doctors are trained in various conditions, providing general outpatient care, managing acute and chronic conditions, and delivering preventive care. While some may have subspecialty training, their main focus is broad-based care for all ages.

Internal medicine, on the other hand, specializes in adult patients. Internists focus on the unique health challenges adults face throughout their lives. They receive extensive training in adult healthcare, which includes general medical needs and specialized areas like psychiatry, dermatology, orthopedics, and infectious diseases. Internists often provide outpatient and inpatient care, whereas family doctors primarily focus on outpatient services, referring complex inpatient cases to specialists.

The main distinction lies in the patient age range and the specific training emphasis—family doctors treat all ages. At the same time, the internist near you focuses solely on adults and offers more comprehensive adult care in outpatient and hospital settings.

How do internists help patients manage diabetes and heart conditions?

Diabetes and heart disease are often correlated. Heart disease is a severe and widespread condition and a leading cause of death among men and women in the United States. Diabetes considerably raises the chance of developing heart disease or stroke. However, the risk of heart disease could be minimized by effectively managing diabetes, improving your health, and changing your lifestyle habits.

What is heart disease?

Heart disease or cardiovascular disease includes various conditions that affect the heart. The most prevalent heart disease type is coronary artery disease, which affects normal blood flow to the heart.

It is caused by the accumulation of plaque or cholesterol deposits in the inner walls of blood vessels that provide oxygen-dense blood to the heart, known colloquially as coronary arteries. These deposits make the inside of the arteries narrow and decrease blood flow. A heart attack happens when the heart's blood supply is limited, whereas a stroke occurs when the brain's blood flow is reduced. 

How does diabetes affect the heart?

Increased blood sugar levels can damage the nerves and blood vessels that control the heart. People who have diabetes also have additional health conditions that further increase the risk of heart disease. These conditions include:

• Higher levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol: this can damage the artery walls or block normal blood flow. 
• High blood pressure: this could damage the artery walls. People with chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are at a greater risk of heart disease. 
• Higher levels of triglycerides (type of fat cells) and decreased levels of good (HDL) cholesterol: this can harden the arteries, affecting normal blood flow to the heart.

These conditions usually don't show any symptoms. A thorough screening by an internist can help detect and treat these underlying conditions early and prevent them from becoming major heart complications. 

Factors that increase heart attack risks include:

• Obesity or being overweight
• Smoking
• Drinking alcohol
• Physical inactivity
• Eating foods with higher amounts of bad cholesterol, sodium (salt), trans fat, and saturated fat

How to take care of the heart?

Simple lifestyle changes can significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks. The tips for improving heart health and managing diabetes include:

• Eat healthy foods: Include more whole grains, lean proteins, fresh fruits, and vegetables in your diet. Avoid processed foods (sweets, chips), trans fat, fast foods, and drink more water. 
• Manage your weight: If you are obese or overweight, aim to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight-age-height ratio. Losing weight also helps lower blood sugar and triglycerides, improves blood circulation, and keeps the heart healthy.
• Become more physically active: It makes the body more receptive to insulin and helps manage diabetes. Physical activity such as regular exercise also helps to manage stress and anxiety, increases blood circulation, and improves heart health.
• Manage your stress levels: Stress can result in unhealthy habits like smoking, overeating, and excessive alcohol consumption. These activities increase blood pressure, enhancing the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Instead, try regular exercise, meditation, deep breathing, or counseling to manage stress and live a healthy life.  

How to find the best internist near you in Tucson, Arizona

Internists are crucial in managing chronic conditions and helping patients lead a good quality of life. But how do you find a trustworthy internist to rely on for long-term and continuing care? The answer is simple: Log in to Zocdoc.

With Zocdoc, you can easily find the best and the most experienced internists in Tucson, Arizona, that suit your requirements. First, create a free account on Zocdoc. Next, select your specialty or condition, location, date, and insurance plan. Once you enter your search criteria, you can see a comprehensive list of highly qualified internists in your area.

All of our internists have unique profiles. You can read about their educational qualifications, board certifications, clinical interests, expertise, experience, and spoken languages. You can even include your insurance carrier's name in the website search if you have insurance to find the best internists who accept your insurance plan. 

You can store details for multiple insurance plans, such as medical, dental, and vision, on your Zocdoc account. However, when booking an appointment, only one plan can be selected. You can mention secondary insurance in the notes section during booking if you need to use secondary insurance. Additionally, if your healthcare provider uses Zocdoc's Intake forms, you can include secondary insurance information when completing them online. For further guidance on insurance matters, you can visit Zocdoc's patient help center for assistance.

After finishing an appointment, we ask patients to leave a review. These updated and verified reviews and user ratings can help you choose the most suitable internist in Tucson, Arizona. You may filter the search results by gender if you want a female or a male provider in your area. 

Zocdoc also allows you to book a video appointment before an in-person visit to understand your provider better. Look for a purple video icon on internists' profiles or filter the video appointment selection. Now, you can even book real-time appointments with internists near you who accept your insurance plan. All bookings on Zocdoc are simple, secure, and free! 

Statistics on primary care providers, coronary heart disease, diabetes, multiple chronic conditions, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure in Arizona, USA

According to the September 2022 data published by America's Health Rankings, Arizona had about 239.9 primary care providers (including family practice, general practice, internal medicine, geriatrics, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants), lower than the US average of 265.3 providers per 100,000 people. 

According to the year-2021 data published by America's Health Rankings:

• Approximately 8.4% of Arizona adults reported coronary heart disease, angina (a heart attack), or a stroke (myocardial infarction), almost similar to the US average of about 8.0%. Cardiovascular disease incidence was highest in the 65+ age group (21.3%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (1.9%). Men were more susceptible to cardiovascular disease (9.6%) than women (7.2%). 
• About 35% of adults in Arizona reported having higher cholesterol levels, slightly lower than the US average of approximately 35.7%. The high cholesterol incidence rate was highest in the 65+ age group (51.8%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (19.6%). 
• Almost 11% of adults in Arizona reported having diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes and prediabetes), almost similar to the US average of approximately 10.9%. The diabetes incidence rate was highest in the 65+ age group (21.4%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (2.9%). At about 11.2% and 10.9%, the diabetes incidence rate was almost similar among men and women. 
• Nearly 30.9% of adults in Arizona reported high blood pressure, lower than the US average of about 32.4%. The increased blood pressure incidence rate was highest in the 65+ age group (56.8%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (13.6%). Men are more susceptible to high blood pressure (33.9%) than women (27.9%). 
• Approximately 9.2% of adults in Arizona reported having three or more chronic conditions, such as asthma, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, heart attack, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer (excluding skin cancer), slightly lower than the US average of about 9.6%. More women (11.5%) reported having multiple chronic conditions than men (6.8%). The incidence rate was highest in the 65+ age group (20.4%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (2.5%). 
• Almost 4.0% of adults in Arizona reported having chronic kidney disease (excluding bladder infection, kidney stone, and incontinence), higher than the US average of about 3.0%. The chronic kidney disease incidence rate was highest in the 65+ age group (9.4%) and lowest in the 18-44 age group (1.6%). About 3.4% of men and 4.6% of women reported having chronic kidney disease. 

Sources

WebMD

American College of Physicians[1]

American College of Physicians[2]

Medical News Today

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

America's Health Rankings[1]

America's Health Rankings[2]

America's Health Rankings[3]

America's Health Rankings[4]

America's Health Rankings[5]

America's Health Rankings[6]

America's Health Rankings[7]

Medical University of the Americas

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

Matthews Internal Medicine

The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 immediately.