Internal medicine is the specialty that deals in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Internal medicine physicians are often called “internist”.
Not to be confused with “interns”, who are doctors that are in their first year of residency training. Internist are skilled in applying scientific knowledge to manage a myriad of undifferentiated or multi-organ system disease processes. Internist can practice in a variety of settings, like the hospital setting, rehabilitation centers, long term care facilities, or in outpatient clinic.
Although internist can act a primary care physicians, they are not “family physicians” or “general practitioners” whose training is not solely focused on the adult patient, and might include some training in pediatrics, obstetrics, and surgery.
Also, sometimes the internist is also called the “doctor’s doctor”, because they addressed as consultants to other physicians to help solve bewildering diagnostic problems.