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Internal Medicine
Internal medicine is a medical specialty which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of nonsurgical conditions in adults. This specialty has a number of subspecialties ranging from cardiology, the study of the heart, to neurology, the study of the nervous system disorders. This medical specialty is incredibly varied, because it focuses on the whole body of the patient. Although the name suggests internal organs, internists also treat external conditions. Internists are often used to solve medical puzzles, since they are familiar with a wide range of medical conditions and their causes.
Diagnosis and treatment of conditions is an important role in an internist's job. Internists can use an assortment of diagnostic techniques including fluid analysis and diagnostic imaging to get information about their patients. Most internists also promote prevention of common and avoidable conditions.
Internal Medicine involves a careful physical evaluation of the patient which helps determine diagnosis of the patient's injury. The internist will then determine the course of treatment pertaining to the most appropriate physical therapy that the patient will be receiving as well as any contraindications for certain treatments or diagnostic studies. After a careful examination the internist will precisely plan the referrals to other specialists who will evaluate the patient's condition more extensively but concentrating in one area or system of the human body. As an example; referrals could be made to an orthopedist, neurologist, surgeon, physiatrist, etc.
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