General Internal Medicine (GIM) is one of the fastest growing subspecialties in medicine today. It encompasses all aspects of primary and specialty care for adult patients.
The GIM physician uses a holistic approach to patient care and is an expert in diagnosing complex illnesses, chronic diseases and multi system diseases. With an expert and diverse knowledge base, the general internist organizes the medical issues of a patient in an integrated fashion, ensuring that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment options are pursued. Working with specialists and other health care providers, the general internist ensures that each patients’ unique needs are met by coordinating and managing their care.
With today’s changing population, GIM internists are dedicated to adapting to the changing needs of adult patients. General internal medicine physicians are leaders in patient care and are committed to providing the highest quality primary medical care for all types of adult patients.
There are few other medical subspecialties that offers the diversity that general internal medicine offers, and the GIM internist can choose a wide range of areas in which to practice.
Hospitalist care is the preferred area of practice, however, GIM physicians can tailor their practices to several other areas. This includes in hospital consultations and ambulatory care, both in hospital and in private practice. GIM physicians can serve communities in large urban centers and rural settings, and environments that serve underserved populations.
General internal medicine physicians are on the front lines of cutting edge research and are called upon to train medical students in all areas of medicine.
General internists not only advocate for their individual patients but also for all patients within the complex healthcare system. You will find many GIM physicians in administration where they are leaders in quality improvement, patient safety, healthcare system initiatives and medical education.
Research and Education
GIM physicians can pursue a wide range of research interests in both clinical and service areas.
Many physicians have an interest in health care system initiatives, quality improvement and patient safety. These are highly important areas of study that help improve the overall health care system and patient care. This is especially essential as we face an aging population with more chronic and complex illnesses.
General internal medicine physicians are leaders in research areas including hypertension, palliative care, geriatric care, diabetes and several other clinical areas.
Education in the hospital clinical setting is an important aspect of GIM. General internists do a large amount of teaching in clinical teaching units, ambulatory care and in the classroom setting and teach all levels of medical students.
General internal medicine internists are not just primary care physicians. They are leaders and collaborators. They are innovators and teachers.