Physician specialty: Internal medicine

Whether you’re a medical student considering a specialty, a resident or fellow, or a practicing physician, the American Medical Association is here to help with information, resources and continuing medical education (CME) for internal medicine.

Internal medicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of common to complex illnesses and conditions throughout the body in adults.

Physicians in internal medicine provide care for adults across the spectrum from full health to complex illness. They can choose to become a general internist or an internal medicine subspecialist.

General internists handle a broad range of illnesses affecting adults and are experts in diagnosis as well as health promotion and disease prevention. Many general internists provide care in ambulatory settings, serving as primary care physicians. Other general internists practice in inpatient settings, such as hospitals, rehabilitations centers, hospices and extended care facilities.

An internist may also become a subspecialist in internal medicine after receiving additional training and board certification in diseases of a specific type or those affecting a single organ system.

General internal medicine specialists and subspecialists also have opportunities to teach medical students, residents and fellows, as well as conduct medical research.

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Following medical school, three years of specialty training in internal medicine is required prior to certification. Additional training may vary for subspecialists in internal medicine depending on their focus.

In 2023, the average internal medicine physician salary was $293,894*. The average resident/fellow salary was $59,840.59+.

• American College of Physicians
• American College of Osteopathic Internists

If you’re a medical student considering an internal medicine residency or a current resident looking to change programs to internal medicine, these were the top 10 most-viewed residency programs in internal medicine in 2023 from FREIDA™, the AMA Residency & Fellowship Database®.

1. Brookwood Baptist Health Program
2. Cook County Health and Hospitals System Program
3. One Brooklyn Health System/Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center Program
4. University of Alabama Medical Center Program
5. Bridgeport Hospital/Yale University Program
6. HCA Florida JFK Hospital/University of Miami Miller School of Medicine GME Consortium Program
7. Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine Program
8. MedStar Health/Georgetown-Washington Hospital Center Program
9. SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Program
10. Maimonides Medical Center Program

For practicing physicians in internal medicine, the AMA Ed Hub™ provides a deep selection of CME options to help keep skills and knowledge current, at home or on the go. Earn as much as 4.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ from these popular courses for starters.

• Gestational Diabetes and Long-Term Cardiometabolic Health (1 credit)
• A Young Patient With Hives and Chest Pain (1 credit)

Podcasts

• Prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction in Heart Failure (1 credit)
• TB or Not TB  (0.5 credit)

Video

• Infection Prevention and Control Post-COVID-19 PHE  (1 credit)

No matter where you are in your career, stay current on the latest research and findings in internal medicine with content from the JAMA Network™.

Podcasts

• Long-term Changes in Pain, Physical Function, and Work Productivity After Bariatric Surgery
• What Does the Future Hold for the Culture of Medicine?
• AI and Clinical Practice—Predictive AI and Early Clinical Detection
• Small Interventions Matter
• Physician Burnout: One Doctor's Story

*Doximity 2023 Physician Compensation Report (PDF)

+FREIDA Specialty Guide