Internal medicine

Internal medicine is the medical specialty that deals with nonsurgical, nonobstetric diseases of adults. Its trained practitioners are called internists. Typical graduate medical education, to become eligible for board certification, lasts three years.

Internists may be primary care providers practicing general internal medicine, or, with additional training, work in a variety of recognized secondary and tertiary specialties:

• Allergy and immunology
• Cardiology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology and oncology
• Infectious disease
• Nephrology
• Pulmonology