Medical specialty: Internal medicine
Within this range, the internal medicine specializes in the following individual areas:
- Gastroenterology and hepatology (diseases of the digestive organs)
- Cardiology (diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system)
- Pneumology (respiratory diseases)
- Nephrology (kidney disease)
- Hematology (diseases of blood and blood-forming organs)
- Angiology (diseases of the vascular system)
- Endocrinology and diabetology (diseases of metabolism and internal secretion)
- Oncology (tumors and hematological malignancies)
- Intensive care
- Immunology (diseases of the immune system)
- Rheumatology (diseases of the supportive connecting tissue)
- Infectious diseases and tropical medicine
- Toxicology
- Sports medicine
The standard methods of examination of internal medicine include – in addition to the medical history and physical examination – electrocardiogram, ultrasonography, endoscopy, bone marrow puncture, heart catheterization and lung and liver biopsies.
In Germany, the training to become a specialist of internal medicine takes five years after finishing medical school. After this special training there is the opportunity to choose one of the medical specialties mentioned above to get more specialized.