INTERNAL MEDICINE & IMGs
What exactly is Internal Medicine ?
An Internist is a physician who completes a residency in Internal Medicine. A good way of describing an Internist is a doctor trained in managing hospital inpatients. It is akin to doing a Post-Graduate(PG) course in "General Medicine" in countries like India.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges an Internist is : "A personal physician who provides long-term comprehensive care in the office and the hospital, managing both common and complex illness of adolescents, adults and the elderly. Internists are trained in the diagnosis and treatment of of cancer, infections, and diseases affecting the heart, blood, kidneys, joints and digestive, respiratory and vascular systems"
If a Family Practitioner is likened to a General Practitioner in other countries like UK, India etc. - then an Internist can be likened to a hospital general practitioner !
Why does it remain the top favorite amongst IMGs ?
The lure of Internal medicine lies in the impressive list of specializations that one can pursue in the form of Fellowships in the following fields AFTER a residency in Internal Medicine:
This reminds me...I was talking to an American generalist physician who was in charge of recruting docs to fill up their Hospitalist position (Hospitalist is an internist or pediatrician or a family medicine physician who devotes more than 25% work time to inpatients - and some even devote 100%). He told me that a lot of IMGs certified as Internists were competing for the position, but he was kinda wary of hiring IMGs because : "as a general rule - IMGs never wanna stay as Generalists, they ALWAYS think of specialization" - meaning he was concerned that they will NOT stick to the job long enough but move on as soon as they secure a Fellowship.
At the same time he understood why that was the trend- he said he knew that IMGs spent a lot of money and hardwork to get here and wish to keep trying to get the best of what they have invested...
Another big, undeniable reason why Internal Medicine remains an IMG favorite is that other high-paying specialties like Anesthesia, Surgery, Radiology, Dermatology, etc. remain favorites of American Medical Graduates and aren't available for IMGs anyways :-) Which means a HUGE number of Internal Medicine programs would go unfilled, had it not been for IMGs !
An Internist is a physician who completes a residency in Internal Medicine. A good way of describing an Internist is a doctor trained in managing hospital inpatients. It is akin to doing a Post-Graduate(PG) course in "General Medicine" in countries like India.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges an Internist is : "A personal physician who provides long-term comprehensive care in the office and the hospital, managing both common and complex illness of adolescents, adults and the elderly. Internists are trained in the diagnosis and treatment of of cancer, infections, and diseases affecting the heart, blood, kidneys, joints and digestive, respiratory and vascular systems"
If a Family Practitioner is likened to a General Practitioner in other countries like UK, India etc. - then an Internist can be likened to a hospital general practitioner !
Why does it remain the top favorite amongst IMGs ?
The lure of Internal medicine lies in the impressive list of specializations that one can pursue in the form of Fellowships in the following fields AFTER a residency in Internal Medicine:
- Allergy and Immunology
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Critical Care Medicine
- Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
- Gastroenterology
- Geriatric Medicine
- Hematology
- Hematology & Oncology
- Hosptalist (Upcoming Hot Fellowship Option)
- Infectious Disease
- Interventional Cardiology
- Nephrology
- Oncology
- Pulmonary Disease
- Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine
- Rheumatology
- Sports Medicine
This reminds me...I was talking to an American generalist physician who was in charge of recruting docs to fill up their Hospitalist position (Hospitalist is an internist or pediatrician or a family medicine physician who devotes more than 25% work time to inpatients - and some even devote 100%). He told me that a lot of IMGs certified as Internists were competing for the position, but he was kinda wary of hiring IMGs because : "as a general rule - IMGs never wanna stay as Generalists, they ALWAYS think of specialization" - meaning he was concerned that they will NOT stick to the job long enough but move on as soon as they secure a Fellowship.
At the same time he understood why that was the trend- he said he knew that IMGs spent a lot of money and hardwork to get here and wish to keep trying to get the best of what they have invested...
Another big, undeniable reason why Internal Medicine remains an IMG favorite is that other high-paying specialties like Anesthesia, Surgery, Radiology, Dermatology, etc. remain favorites of American Medical Graduates and aren't available for IMGs anyways :-) Which means a HUGE number of Internal Medicine programs would go unfilled, had it not been for IMGs !
Labels: IMGs, Internal medicine, Specialty Discussions
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posted by Digitaldoc, MD at 9:12 PM
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Post Your Comment !hi...plz post something for neurology residency...
hi sir....please put a blog on how difficult or how easy is to get into fellowship for img after doing internal medicine...
and what r the ways?do they have any other exam for fellowship entry like usmle for residency?
plz do respond...
i read the first post for neuro residency..yes plz do the same...
because i think its better to do neuro than do im n get into hassle of getting fellowship...
There are no separate exams to get into, rather research publications, related experiences to the specialty and LORs become important, besides your USMLE scores. Shall put up stuff on That and Neuro soon.
And yes, many IM guys are considering shifting into Neurology as another option to doing fellowships - since Neurology itself gives a specialist feel
first of thanks for great site...
sir...what is family medicine? how is it different from internal medicine? what do doctors do in family practice..?what are fellowship options in fm?
plz put a blog on it..because as seniors told one can get in fm if scores are in 80s...
gr8 site...you are working hard..doing residency and managing this is really great...
one question sir..what is combined residency? i came across im/pedia, im/emergency med..
whats this stuff? whats its curriculum..how many years of residency?
do img get into this?
hi sir your all blogs are excellent plz post what all documents are required for family medicine and neurology????
digidoc...which fellowship do an img get easily after internal medicine?
Almost all of them are open for IMGs:-) Since Internal Medicine is very much domain of IMGs.
The most competitive ones are :
Cardio , Gastro and Heme-Onc
Next in line in degrees of competitiveness are Allergy and Hospitalist positions and probably Nephrology rising to the ranks
Endocrinology, Pulmonology / Critical Care, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, Geriatrics still remain not as competitive
please explain what is family medicine?
Family Medicine physicians mostly deal with primary care for all age ranges - from the cradle to the walking sticks. They are usually outpatient / office physicians who even receive training in delivery of babies. If you imagine a small town doctor caring for everyone on all problems and usually referring to a specialist or an internist for complicated or difficult cases - that's a family physician.
sir does that mean family physicians have no job opportunities in cities?
i mean whom do patients consult first in cities? family physician or one who has done im.
who earns more family physician or im with no fellowship?
forgot to ask. please put a blog on family medicine sir.
what fellowships are available in fm?
No I did not mean that - you can very much find them everywhere including big cities. I mentioned the small town thing to only help you imagine what they are trained for. Family medicine guys serve as the most common "first point of contact" - and so do other specialties like primary-care track Internists and pediatricians. They generate referrals to specialists and hospital admissions, if needed - where patients are seen by internists and specialists and then referred back to the family medicine guy after the treatment.
Hi Digitaldoc,
with your permission I would request the applicants to go to the following site, if they want to find out about the fellowships in FM:
http://www.aafp.org/fellowships/
what are the chances of getting residency in internal medicine , if i have B1/B2 visa of 10 years validity?
Thats a very open-ended question - many factors must be considered - scores, years since clinical training, research, number of applications, visa status, research, contacts, etc. etc. and even with a very strong profile, things are never a 100% guarantee :-)
Hey Digital Doc, my question is if i trained for categorical Interneal medicine can i practice as a primary care physician/ or general internist while waiting for fellowship opportunities?
yes you can, and thats what IMGs do either by choice or if fellowships do not work out, or to get a green card sponsoring job first after residency
A more attractive,lucrative option these days for jobs after categorical medicine is that of a hospitalist - where you are work fixed shifts on inpatients with options like day-only, night-only and then one-day-off-on or one-week-off-on options. Though hospitalist fellowships are now starting to appear, the demand is big enough to not need a fellowship to get a hospitalist position