They make up for less postgraduate work by increased clinical experience. General practitioners treat the full spectrum of medical disorders and refer to specialists when needed. Internists specialize in nonsurgical treatment of adults. They take a three-year residency in advanced treatment and management of most common medical problems. Some internists will take further training in a subspecialty.
Examples are, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology.
When internists refer to a subspecialist for diagnosis, they usually maintain treatment supervision. What questions to ask. How do you feel about the other doctors who might cover for your primary physician when he is not available How to get the answers. Getting the answers is often difficult. You could try the following.