When do you need internalist medicine? Usually your general practitioner will send you to a specialist depending on what your issues may consist of. When you’re feeling sick or unwell, or you have a pain or notice something that may be unregular to you, you go to the doctor. If your symptoms are a common cold, flu, pink eye, infection, etc. Your family doctor can asses the severity within his or her office by looking at it and sending you home with a prescription for antibiotics. If it’s something he or she cannot fully asses, like a swollen lymph node, or a lump somewhere, or something not so specific he or she will often send you to a specialist.
An internalist is a doctor that asses your health internally. Sometimes people assume that an internalist is a “intern” (a first-year doctor or nurse) which isn’t the case. These doctors are specifically trained to look deeper into the issues at hand. They investigate the specific areas of the body that a general practitioner cannot visually see. They cover most parts of the internal organs, such as the heart (cardiology), kidneys (nephrology), immune system (immunology), internal glands (endocrinology), and much, much more.
When seeing an internalist it allows you to take preventative measures with your health. The series of non-evasive tests they cover for you gives you a piece of mind. Your health is important, and if there’s something you can prevent it’s better to check before its progressed into something else. When you see an internalist it’s not only another doctor. It covers a grand spectrum of things, like I mentioned above it covers all aspects of your internal organs. Our bodies are often changing no matter the age we are. As we age, somethings age along with us, or somethings begin to decrease in their duties. An internalist can assist you in finding out what ailments there might be whether you’re noticing them or not. Some are as simple as a new allergy that has shown up, but you’re uncertain of what it’s caused by. It could be you noticing a change in your behaviour or have a weird tingling sensation in your foot. A lot of the times your general practitioner will have an idea of what is wrong with you. They can often confirm this with a list of general questions that they ask you. To confirm their theories though they will have to send you to a internalist.
Basically, internalist medicine is the confirmation of the suspected symptoms that are causing issues within your body. Sometimes there isn’t anything that’s wrong, but they can notice if there’s something that might increase over time. They’ll offer preventative medicine or ensure that you get the right care to reduce the issue at hand. Someone will always be in touch with you, whether it’s your general practitioner or the internalist doctor themselves. It’s always safe to have an internal look at the things you may not be able to see.