Opportunities for a Doctor of Internal Medicine

Doctors of internal medicine are highly trained in the detection and treatment of diseases that occur in adults. They are required to spend eight years studying medicine and three years as resident doctors before they can practice without supervision. Doctors of internal medicine have many opportunities to specialize in a particular subspecialty.

Doctors of internal medicine are provided with a wide range of opportunities in terms of work environments and subspecialties. They typically spend their residency in hospitals working under the guidance of doctors and experienced residents. Following this, the doctors have the opportunity to continue working in a hospital or clinic or to go into private practice. Many doctors of internal medicine, or internists as they are often called, who choose to work in private practice are considered general practitioners.

Doctors of internal medicine have many subspecialties to select from if they so choose, the following list describes some of the common subspecialities found in internal medicine:

Cardiology - The subspecialty that focuses on the detection and treatment of diseases that occur in the circulatory system.

Pulmonology - Subspecialty focused on the treatment of diseases that affect the lungs and respiratory system.

Medical Oncology - Doctors in this subspecialty are skilled in the chemotherapeutic treatment of various types of cancer.

Hematology - This subspecialty is concerned with detecting and treating disorders that occur in the blood.

Gastroenterology - Doctors in this subspecialty focus in the treatment of digestive diseases.

Endocrinology - This subspecialty is based around the study of the endocrine system and the diseases that affect it, particularly those that involve hormones.

Infections Diseases - Doctors of infectious disease are trained to recognize and treat different forms of infection.