If you’ve ever been to a family care doctor or a general practitioner, you’ve seen an internal medicine physician. These doctors are tasked with care of adults and elderly patients, both when they’re ill and when they need well care. They provide a range of treatments and services to their patients and are the backbone of the overall healthcare system.
Are you interested in becoming an internal medicine specialist? Read on to find out more about this career, and whether it would be a good fit for your future.
Educational Requirements
As with any member of the medical community, specialized training and education are required for becoming an internal medicine doctor. This includes the prerequisite high school, bachelors and masters level education, as well as attending medical school. After graduate level schooling is completed, students will be required to finish a three-year residency. During this time, the majority of a student’s day will be spent working in hospitals. This allows for real-world experience and hands-on training that would be impossible elsewhere.
Entering the Working World
Internal medicine physicians practice in a variety of settings. These may include:
- Hospitals
- Private offices
- Clinics
- Outreach centers
- Urgent care facilities and more
These providers may practice as primary care or general doctors, or may choose to specialize in particular areas of medicine. Some examples of sub-specialization include cardiology, radiology and more. Whatever area of medicine a doctor chooses to practice in, they may also have the option later to drop their specialization and practice general, family medicine.
Should a practitioner decide to specialize in a particular type of medicine, they will be required to participate in an additional one or more years of specialized clinical experience after their internal medicine residency. All of this training is just to ensure that physicians are ready to handle any situation their patients may bring them.
Internal medicine is a lucrative, rewarding and versatile career path. Contact a local specialist in the Sugar Land area for more real-world advice today, and see if your future lies in the medical field!
