Is general medicine a dead specialty?
False
General clinical
Is general medicine a dead specialty?
Discuss any specialty in this open forum for all healthcare professionals
Here in the UK *most* medical trainees train in the base speciality and General (Internal) Medicine - the cardiologists seem to have moved away from it, and I suspect GI might be next to do the same.
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Forums » Open clinical » General clinical » Is general medicine a dead specialty?
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Re: Is general medicine a dead specialty?
posted at 21/10/2011 12:37 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 683
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 17/5/2012 |
Thanks to everyone for replying to this interesting question. I'm buoyed by the comments above that a respiratory physician is clever and excellent general physician, being a chest physician I tend to agree that we sit very much towards the middle of general medicine, and I try to keep my G(I)M skills up to date as much as possible. My G(IM) take days do seem to be mainly geriatrics/medicine for the elderly, though. My feeling is that the best general physicians these days are the geriatricians. Perhaps G(I)M is wilting in the teaching hospitals such as mine, but perhaps it's fighting fit in DGHs across the land. A respiratory colleague of mine, of whom I have great respect, introduces himself as a general physician with a respiratory interest, for that is how he was trained. I don't think that's how newly appointed consultants think, but perhaps I'm out of touch, what with being a consultant for nearly 3 whole years now.... |
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Re: Is general medicine a dead specialty?
posted at 21/10/2011 3:43 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2075
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 18/5/2012 |
Our surgeons use general physicians a lot as a medical backup as they are sensible and broadly based. In the country they are worth their weight in gold. I see suboptimal outcomes even in ICU by idiosavants whose knowledge of general principles of medicine and common sense has atrophied in favour of hi-tec procedures. I function as a general physician a lot as I see so many general medical problems and psych for that matter that have gone through the boundary. I will not say more lest I get into deep water. I believe a specialist can function well as a general physician. it is all a matter of attitude and not closing a blind eye to the elephants in the room. Non-respiratory dyspnoea is not on my radar although non-cardiac chest pain is on the centre screen of cardiologists.
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Re: Is general medicine a dead specialty?
posted at 17/12/2011 5:11 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3
First: 20/9/2011 Last: 17/12/2011 |
In Response to Re: Is general medicine a dead specialty?: In India today, in cities, a profusion of corporate speciality hospitals are being started mainly aiming at middle & high income urban population through advertisements which aim at luring them to their fold inculcating fear of different diseases! At the reception counter of these hopitals usually a paramedic decides on so-called "packages" of investigations before the patient has a chance of consulting an experienced generalist who can discuss & advice him/her after taking taking detailed history & physical exam, which package of inveastigations would be best, Such "check-ups" are are gone through before a specialist or or a subspecialist "sees" the patient. Problems get more complicated when a patient is found to have diabetes, ischemic heart disease, moderate renal failure, osteoporosis & of course depression & anxiety. With all these conditions different specialists suggesting different courses of actions the patient again needs a "generalist doctor" in the corporate set-up, to help him decide on priority & also for future follow-up, Posted by J.M.Ghosh |
Forums » Open clinical » General clinical » Is general medicine a dead specialty?
