Internal Medicine

Internal Medicine addresses prevention, diagnostics, treatment as well as rehabilitation and aftercare of health issues and diseases

of the respiratory organs (pneumology),
of the heart and vascular system (cardiology),
of the digestion organs (gastroenterology),
of the kidneys and urinary tracts (nephrology and urology),
of the blood and hematopoietic organs [alt.: " and blood system"] (hematology),
of the vascular system (angiology),
of the metabolism and internal secretion (endocrinology),
of the immune system (immunology),
of the supporting and connective tissue (rheumatology),
of infection transmitted diseases (infectology) and poisoning (toxicology) as well as
of the solid tumors and hemic neoplasias (oncology).

As a consequence of the rapid accumulation of knowledge within the disciplines of Internal Medicine, the classical internist in the developed nations gets more and more substituted by specialists of these disciplines.

This on-going specialization into the various disciplines, however, also evocates, in regard of the loss of a broadly educated internist, more and more criticism.