For your health, generalists have great lasting value

First, we must address semantics.  This post – Generalists vs. Specialists – stimulated these thoughts.  Often in organized medicine we (especially internists and family physicians) emphasize that internists (whether inpatient or outpatient focused), family physicians, pediatricians, general surgeons, etc. are specialists, while we reserve the term sub-specialists for cardiologists, or vascular surgeons, or gastroenterologists.  For the sake of consistency with common usage, I will refer to generalists and specialists rather than specialists and sub-specialists. The essay’s point (as I interpret it) focuses on the value and danger of specialization.  While the essay does not talk directly about health care, one can easily gain some important lessons. When do we need a specialist?  I would say that for a discrete problem that requires a depth of knowledge and sufficient experience caring for that discrete problem, a specialist is highly desirable.  In internal medicine, if you have a disease with rapidly evolving treatment options (e.g. Crohn’s disease, HIV, acute coronary syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, severe psoriasis), then a physician who specializes in that disease will have more experience and more resources to help you design the proper treatment strategy. When do we need a generalist?  The number one reason for first consulting a generalist is to decipher symptoms and develop a diagnostic strategy.  All physicians hear about patients wh...
Source: DB's Medical Rants - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Rants Source Type: blogs