Both the general practitioner and the internist are essential figures for the well-being of the population, but their fields of action and approaches are different. Here we explore the essential differences between both professionals.
Samuel Antonio Sanchez Amador
This basic concept encloses a much more interesting world than one might expect. For example, in 2013 it was calculated that only 5% of the world population did not present any altered state of health , and that the proportion of years lost due to pathologies stood at 31%. We must accept it: as much as life expectancy increases over time in high-income countries, the human being is not invincible.
It is for this reason that the figure of the doctor in society is one of the essential pillars that allows us to carry out our activities not only as individuals, but also as a species. Can you imagine that life expectancy was 30 years, as in the Paleolithic? The wisdom, knowledge and experience gained by the oldest individuals could never be put into practice.
Far from such philosophical fields and from a practical point of view, medicine has to cover both general processes such as a cold to that disease that affects 0.0001% of the population. Here are two related but different terms that we are going to expose today. Continue reading if you want to know the 3 differences between a general practitioner and an internist, two essential and complementary figures for the health of the population .
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What is the difference between a general practitioner and an internist?
It is difficult to get an idea about the importance of the health professional if we do not contextualize this figure sheltered from certain numerical data. Portals such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or the world data bank give us some figures of great interest:
- In 2006 there were a total of 59 million health workers.
- In 2019, this same organization assured that 18 million more professionals were required to achieve universal healthcare in 2030.
- The world database shows that in 2017 there were, worldwide, 1.5 doctors for every 100,000 inhabitants.
- In a similar theme, it is estimated that there are 2.7 hospital beds for every 100,000 inhabitants.
We must bear in mind that we are dealing with global figures, and that unfortunately, inequality reigns on our planet . In countries like Afghanistan there are 0.3 doctors for every 100,000 inhabitants, while in Germany this figure rises astronomically to 4.2. Of course, all these data put into perspective the importance of health professionals around the world and the inequality in infrastructures according to countries.
The number of pathologies that can affect human beings is endless, since it is estimated that only within the group of rare diseases there are 7,000 different ones. We can guess that we are dealing with a figure in the millions, and therefore, it is no coincidence that there are more than 50 types of doctors only in the clinical field (without taking into account surgeons, for example). One of the biggest divisions made in this profession is whether the doctor in question is a “general” or an “internist . ” Now yes, we present the differences between these two terms.
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1. The general practitioner treats common pathologies; the internist, more specific
According to the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a general practitioner is defined as follows: “he is a medical professional who has the knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose and resolve most medical conditions with simple procedures. that the human being suffers during his life.
Thus, we can say that a general practitioner is the one that any patient goes to in the first instance when he feels that something is not right. Perhaps the term general medicine does not sound so familiar to us, but surely all readers go to the family doctor relatively regularly, right? These types of professionals attend to the patient in a comprehensive and personalized manner, taking into account, in addition to their own physiology and maladjustments, their social and health environment. From a point of view that may be slightly romantic, the general practitioner is responsible for preserving the health of the community of which he is a part.
On the other hand, the internist is the one who shines when the patient’s pathology is complicated . General practitioners and other specialists come to him when the disease is difficult to diagnose and requires a more “interdisciplinary” vision. This professional guides the patient through the complex hospital system, directing him to the most suitable specialists for the identification of his different clinical presentations. We could say that the internist shows the “different pieces of the puzzle” to the relevant specialists, and with his information, he is able to generate the complete image of the patient’s pathology.
2. The general practitioner focuses on the community; the internist, in the individual
The Argentine Federation of General Medicine (FAMG) shows us some of the functions to be performed by a general practitioner:
- Apply strategies for the first level of health care.
- Participate in health promotion and prevention actions (for example, vaccination campaigns).
- Carry out both individual and family medical history.
- Indicate the hospitalization of the patient or his transfer to a hospital.
- Continue with the follow-up and treatment of the hospitalized patient.
- Carry out a diagnosis of the situation based on a critical approach to risk, taking into account demographic, health, socio-cultural factors…etc.
As we can see, the general practitioner focuses on the patient’s pathology from a very broad point of view , since not only their individual condition is taken into account: their family history, their socioeconomic status, the place where they live and many other factors related to the population linked to that specific health center.
For example, a general practitioner may suspect that a patient has lung cancer if he comes to the center with violent and continuous coughs if he has observed that it is a general trend in adult men in his place of practice (perhaps, for example, that there is a nearby mining operation).
On the other hand, and as we have said before, the function of the internist is to respond to the situation of a complex patient , either because they present many pathologies or because of the difficulty of their diagnosis.
For example, if a person has tiredness, a headache, a cough and a skin rash, where do they go? to the dermatologist? to the infectologist? to the neurologist? to the endocrinologist? The answer is simple: this patient is redirected to an internal doctor, who will guide all these specialists to build a common image of his clinical situation. So to speak, the internist integrates the pathologies of the patient and conceives it as an interconnected “whole”.
Thus, and as a summary of this point, another of the 3 differences between a general practitioner and an internist is that the former conceives the patient’s population environment and his or her life history, and the latter focuses on diagnosis with the support of specialists.
3. The general practitioner works in health centers; the internist, in hospitals
As we have said before, the general practitioner corresponds to the terms of “family” or “head” of all life. Although this difference may be based on a somewhat reductionist idea, we can say that the general practitioner is in charge of everything pertinent to the health center and the internist takes care of the patient from the moment he enters until he leaves the hospital.
This is not entirely the case, since a general practitioner also follows the patient’s condition when hospitalized or in the emergency room, for example, but of course the hospital environment is the domain of the internist, from the outpatient clinic to all areas of specialization.
Conclusions
As we have collected in these lines, the 3 differences between general practitioner and internist can be summarized as follows: one is the first line of health care, knows the population he treats and his place of action is the center of Health. The other is specialized in integrating different knowledge to reach a reliable result, conceives the individual as a biological whole and the place of action for him is the hospital.
Despite the differences provided, both specialists are essential for adequate health both at the individual and population levels . After all, we are facing two sides of the same coin, because what is always sought is the diagnosis, treatment, improvement and well-being of the patient, both in the short and long term.
Bibliographic references
- What is a general practitioner? FAMG. Collected on September 27 at http://www.famg.org.ar/index.php/institucional/famg/que-es-un-medico-general
- Numerical figures: World Data Bank. Collected on September 27 at https://datos.bancomundial.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?name_desc=false
- Difference between general medicine and internal medicine, clinic MEDICAM. Retrieved September 27 from http://www.medicam.en/blog/difference-general-medicine-internal-medicine/
- THE ROLE OF GENERAL MEDICINE IN THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM, UNAM. Retrieved September 27 from http://www.facmed.unam.mx/eventos/seam2k1/2001/ponencia_may_2k1.htm#:~:text=El%20m%C3%A9dico%20general%20es%20el,la%20vejez %2C%20with%20shares%20frequently
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.