Internal Medicine specialists provide nonsurgical medical care for adults. We are known as the diagnostic detectives of medicine (A physician wrote the Sherlock Holmes detective mysteries). We search for the cause of your illness and treat problems ranging from sore throats to heart failure, coordinating care with other medical specialists.

"Internists" also provide preventive services, such as immunizations, designed to prevent illness. Preventive physical examinations (such as breast or prostate examinations) and tests (such as cholesterol and osteoporosis screening) are designed to identify problems before painful or life-threatening problems occur.

You may have noted the term "Internist" in this description. The specialty of Internal Medicine began in Germany as a way to describe physicians who utilized specialized scientific testing to evaluate their patients. The title, "internist", when translated into English has caused some confusion. An "Intern" is a physician-student who is in the first year of training after medical school, while "Internists" have completed several years of Internal Medicine specialty training!