Can An Internal Medicine Md Work As A Family Physician

[Bawgg]

So, as the topic reads, can an Internal medicine MD work as a family physician? I want to go into internal medicine because I really enjoy the work that they do, but at the same time, I wanna keep the option of working as a famly md open. Thanks

[JohnGrisham]

So, as the topic reads, can an Internal medicine MD work as a family physician? I want to go into internal medicine because I really enjoy the work that they do, but at the same time, I wanna keep the option of working as a famly md open. Thanks

Nope.

[#YOLO]

nope, in the states they can act as primary care providers tho.

[Harvestpro]

Nope.

Should you not be able to work in a walk-in clinic as an internist? While you may not have a patient roster like GPs, if patients come in and request you each time, in practice you can be a GP. Now internists are not trained with children, so they typically see patients 16+ y/o. They may not also be as well experienced with certain issues (ie. gyne, mental health)

[ralk]

IM docs can do community-focused outpatient Internal Medicine without a hospital affiliation, but no, they cannot work as FM physicians. I'm fairly certain that in most provinces, they require a referral to even see a patient. They lack training in a lot of major primary care presentations, because that's not their role.

[j17f]

I work at a clinic that has an internist as the walk-in doctor once a week. He won't see patients under the age of 18, and won't do any ob/gyn related stuff.

[rmorelan]

I work at a clinic that has an internist as the walk-in doctor once a week. He won't see patients under the age of 18, and won't do any ob/gyn related stuff.

 

when did he graduate from internal medicine?

 

some of our radiologists are technically able to work as GPs as they were trained on the old system. Not that any of them actually would....

[rmorelan]

IM docs can do community-focused outpatient Internal Medicine without a hospital affiliation, but no, they cannot work as FM physicians. I'm fairly certain that in most provinces, they require a referral to even see a patient. They lack training in a lot of major primary care presentations, because that's not their role.

 

exactly  

 

I suppose you could do a duel specialty thing. There are days when I wonder what that would be like actually ha, but I am a bit weird for a radiologist trainee. 

[Harvestpro]

IM docs can do community-focused outpatient Internal Medicine without a hospital affiliation, but no, they cannot work as FM physicians. I'm fairly certain that in most provinces, they require a referral to even see a patient. They lack training in a lot of major primary care presentations, because that's not their role.

I've seen Internists see patients on a walk-in basis. They cannot bill internist codes, I think they just bill general practice codes in those circumstances. 

 

From my understanding it becomes a bit of a grey areas as physicians can really do anything they are comfortable with once they are licensed. I assume you can state what your scope of practice is. Now if you mess up and the college investigates you doing something you weren't initially trained to do then.... you have problems. 

[rmorelan]

I've seen Internists see patients on a walk-in basis. They cannot bill internist codes, I think they just bill general practice codes in those circumstances. 

 

From my understanding it becomes a bit of a grey areas as physicians can really do anything they are comfortable with once they are licensed. I assume you can state what your scope of practice is. Now if you mess up and the college investigates you doing something you weren't initially trained to do then.... you have problems. 

 

hmmm you can but if you do something and are sued you are kind of left out there in the wind. It is hard to say "despite my training I felt I was able to do that function" as justification. Even if a family doctor say with all the training would do that exactly same thing. 

[#YOLO]

maybe an older trained internists as people above said many people could qualify for GP licensure in the past...no longer is the case. 

[katakari]

Internists are great at what they do. And they are not family physicians. The knowledge base and skillset is completely different. You could get the two to switch roles for a day and I'm sure they would do alright, but it would not be optimal medical care.

 

To test this: ask an internist and a FM what antibiotics they would prescribe for an outpatient pneumonia. Answers will be completely different because the patients we see are largely different populations.

[A-Stark]

To test this: ask an internist and a FM what antibiotics they would prescribe for an outpatient pneumonia. Answers will be completely different because the patients we see are largely different populations.

 

 

I can assure you that during my ongoing Royal College studying we have addressed guidelines-based questions such as this. 

 

It's not as if the bugs change, and choices are largely dependent on the presence of comorbidities. It is not a specialty-dependent answer. 

 

It's true enough that in IM there is little enough outpatient gyne (let alone peds of course!), but there's plenty of obstetrical medicine to know. 

 

Anyway, I'm not sure why an internist would want to work as a GP given access to considerable more expansive billing prospects. 

[#YOLO]

I can assure you that during my ongoing Royal College studying we have addressed guidelines-based questions such as this. 

 

It's not as if the bugs change, and choices are largely dependent on the presence of comorbidities. It is not a specialty-dependent answer. 

 

It's true enough that in IM there is little enough outpatient gyne (let alone peds of course!), but there's plenty of obstetrical medicine to know. 

 

Anyway, I'm not sure why an internist would want to work as a GP given access to considerable more expansive billing prospects. 

easier more straight forward work that can be done really quick

[Bawgg]

Okay, thanks for the answers guys, second question; can an Internal medicine MD work in a nursing home? I know of famly doctors who work in Nursing homes so they should def qualify

[Manchester1]

Okay, thanks for the answers guys, second question; can an Internal medicine MD work in a nursing home? I know of famly doctors who work in Nursing homes so they should def qualify

Its possible if they are referred by GPs and depending on the nature of the nursing home

[leviathan]

An internist could easily just do outpatient consults only. You can choose to follow outpatients on an ongoing basis if you want. Would offer you a similar kind of environment as a GP, if that's what you're looking for.