What does an Internal Medicine Physician do?
An Internal Medicine Physician examines adult patients to ensure proper injury care and disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. They conduct and supervise direct patient care, and plan and execute disease prevention and health promotion programs.
Internal medicine physician responsibilities
As an internal medicine physician, one is responsible for providing comprehensive medical care to patients. This includes interpreting regular blood workups, EKGs, and urine analyses, as well as managing medication and palliative care. They also order and manage laboratories and diagnostic tests, and perform emergency procedures such as intubation and tube thoracostomy. Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Robert Agnello DO, FACOFP, advises that "completing a residency and developing an excellent reputation through years as a practicing DO leads to higher compensation potential." Additionally, they may be involved in mentoring and supervising other healthcare providers, as well as participating in on-call coverage for the group practice.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real internal medicine physician resumes:
- Rotate in cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, nephrology, hematology, endocrinology, neurology and ICU.
- Work in ICU, ER, surgery, OB/GYN, and internal medicine.
- Lecture in the field of geriatrics.
- Perform injections such as antibiotics, flu shots and hormones.
- Assist in their surgery and take care of the post op needs.
- Certify in BCLS, ACLS and also in majority of invasive procedures.
- Perform family medicine training in pediatrics, inpatient medicine, obstetrics, and outpatient medicine.
- Cover all possible diagnosis possibilities and write efficient notes in EMR in a limit time.
- Cover the emergency room for the oral surgery and dental medicine services for head and neck trauma.
- Perform minor procedures and suturing.
- Assist physician with peritoneal catheter insertion.
- Welcome patients and obtain personal and medical information.
- Staff the inpatient wards and tend to hospitalize patients with respiratory or gastrointestinal disorder
- Formulate differential diagnosis and discuss treatment plan with medical staff.
- Provide injections and assist with minor surgery and ear-irrigation.
Internal medicine physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 41% of Internal Medicine Physicians are proficient in Patients, Critical Care, and Epic. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Internal Medicine Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 41%
Demonstrated ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge base and apply that information while covering patients for two endocrinologists and one internist.
- Critical Care, 17%
Served on Critical Care committee, Chaired PI committee.
- Epic, 7%
Initiated recommendations for work flow and EPIC electronic templates to improve patient outcomes.
- Family Practice, 5%
Participate in Family Practice wellness care services which at times included phlebotomy and IV therapy.
- Internal Medicine Practice, 3%
Established and grew internal medicine practice providing outpatient care to diverse patient population.
- Medical Education, 2%
Contributed to the medical education of fellow residents and students by giving monthly oral presentations and seminars.
"patients," "critical care," and "epic" are among the most common skills that internal medicine physicians use at work. You can find even more internal medicine physician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an internal medicine physician to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Additionally, an internal medicine physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "managed smooth and effective communication among physicians, patients, families and staff. "
Compassion. Many internal medicine physician duties rely on compassion. "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress," so an internal medicine physician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways internal medicine physician responsibilities rely on compassion: "participate in safe, effective and compassionate patient care under supervision, commensurate with resident's level of advancement and responsibility. "
Detail oriented. internal medicine physicians are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to internal medicine physician responsibilities, because "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." An internal medicine physician resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "performed detailed patient history, and differential diagnosis focused physical and mental examinations. "
Dexterity. A big part of what internal medicine physicians do relies on "dexterity." You can see how essential it is to internal medicine physician responsibilities because "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical internal medicine physician tasks: "conducted hands-on minor surgical procedures such as homeostasis, debridement, suturing and dressing the wound. "
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for internal medicine physician responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of internal medicine physicians all the time, as "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." An excerpt from a real internal medicine physician resume shows how this skill is central to what an internal medicine physician does: "collaborated with residency program leadership to assist in the preparation for intern applicant interviews and weekly didactic sessions"
Organizational skills. Lastly, "organizational skills" is an important element of what an internal medicine physician does. Internal medicine physician responsibilities require this skill because "good recordkeeping and other organizational skills are critical in both medical and business settings." This resume example highlights how internal medicine physician duties rely on this skill: "develop and execute the annual internal review plan to address organizational weaknesses and concerns. "
The three companies that hire the most internal medicine physicians are:
- Integrity Locums244 internal medicine physicians jobs
- Kelsey-Seybold Clinic62 internal medicine physicians jobs
- UnitedHealth Group53 internal medicine physicians jobs
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Compare different internal medicine physicians
Internal medicine physician vs. Emergency room doctor
Endocrinologists specialize in the glands and the hormones our body makes. These doctors deal with the biochemical process, like how your body changes food into energy and how it grows. An endocrinologist can diagnose and treat hormonal problems; diseases like diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, thyroid dysfunction, adrenal disorders, lipid disorders, growth disorders, and metabolic abnormalities. An endocrinologist must exhibit leadership skills, organizational and problem-solving skills, strong communication skills, empathy, and agility. An endocrinologist must have an issued license to practice medicine.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, internal medicine physician responsibilities require skills like "patients," "critical care," "epic," and "family practice." Meanwhile a typical emergency room doctor has skills in areas such as "emergency room," "call emergency," "outbound calls," and "blood draws." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Emergency room doctors tend to reach similar levels of education than internal medicine physicians. In fact, emergency room doctors are 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 37.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Internal medicine physician vs. Endocrinologist
Each career also uses different skills, according to real internal medicine physician resumes. While internal medicine physician responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "critical care," "epic," and "family practice," endocrinologists use skills like "thyroid," "cme," "clinical care," and "pediatrics."
Endocrinologists earn a higher average salary than internal medicine physicians. But endocrinologists earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $207,857. Additionally, internal medicine physicians earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $201,532 annually.endocrinologists earn higher levels of education than internal medicine physicians in general. They're 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 37.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Internal Medicine Physicians in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Haydee Encarnacion-Garcia Ph.D.
Associate Professor, MPH Program Director, Indiana Wesleyan University
Internal medicine physician vs. Clinic md associate
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from internal medicine physician resumes include skills like "patients," "critical care," "epic," and "family practice," whereas an clinic md associate is more likely to list skills in "surgery," "pediatrics," "clinical research," and "patient care. "
Most clinic md associates achieve a similar degree level compared to internal medicine physicians. For example, they're 4.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 29.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal medicine physician vs. General internist
Types of internal medicine physician
Updated June 25, 2024
