What is the difference between internists, family and general practitioners?
The differences arise in the postgraduate training (training after graduating from medical school with an M.D. degree). Family amd general practitioners train for 2-3 years while internists train for a minimum of 3 years. Aside from the time difference, the focus is different with internists getting more adult medical subspecialty training such as cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology, etc. General and family practitioners get more pediatrics and obstetrics. Bottomline: Internists are the doctors that are trained to handle health problems in adults.
