I have a few simple questions. What does an internist specialize in and how do they differ from a GP or family doctor? And what is the difference between a resident and staff doctor? Are residents "on their own" in a hospital or do they need to be "signed off" by a staff doctor? How about surgery, can a resident do surgery? Not necessarily needing to know for myself right now but things I've wondered for a while that may become important later.
Good questions!
An Internist is a doctor who specializes in "internal medicine", that is, disorders of "internal" systems in the ADULT body. Those would include the cardiovascular system (heart & blood vessels), respiratory system (airway and lungs), renal system (kidneys and associated plumbing), endocrine system (glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, and insulin producing cells in the pancreas). To become an internist (or any other type of specialist) after completing med school, a doctor would do a Residency in Internal Medicine. This generally takes three years in the US but longer elsewhere. Let's suppose our budding resident develops a particular interest in heart disease. Her or she could then do a Fellowship (2-3 years) in Cardiology. As an adult, if you have something wrong with you that clearly isn't surgical, and if it's beyond the expertise of your GP or Family Doctor, your GP might refer you to an Internist.
Speaking of Family Doctors or GPs, a doctor who is interested in Primary Care (looking after whoever comes in the door) will generally choose this speciality. Family Docs look after people from the cradle to the grave. They are trained in a separate residency program, and may develop particular interests, such as delivering babies, providing psychiatric consultation, doing minor surgery, delivering anesthetics (with the proper training). The good thing about having a family doc is that he or she knows you and your community very well and can deliver "continuity of care", i.e. consistency over time. Obviously, if you develop a complex illness, e.g. cancer, you will require the expertise of many specialists, such as a surgeon, oncologist (e.g. Rich in Tampa) etc. Your family doctor can help implement the plans that Rich and company think up and can look after "you", often working in a team with other health professionals such as Nurse Practitioners.
For children, the Pediatrician is the equivalent of the Internist. Some pediatricians do a lot of Primary Care for kids (see below). I am a Neonatologist, a pediatrician who has done a Fellowship in Neonatology (the care of newborn babies).
OK, on to Residents. A resident is a doctor who has graduated from medical school and who is now training in a particular specialty, which could be surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, ob/gyn, psychiatry, family medicine, etc, etc. Depending on the specialty, residency programs take 3-5 years. Residents work very hard and do a lot of night call. They rotate to different services every month. They get a lot of teaching and mentoring and are regarded as postgrad students. Earnings range from $40-$60K where I practice. Residents have educational licences and are supervised by attendings (who have completed residencies or more). To be recognized as specalists, residents must successfully complete professional exams (such as American Boards or Canadian Fellowships) at the end of their training. Beyond residency, doctors who wish to subspecialize do Fellowships, which are generally 2-3 years in duration and have a required research component.
Can a resident "do" surgery? Yes, in a graduated way. A junior surgical resident would be expected to scrub with his/her attending and after several operations (e.g. appendicectomy) holding the retractors, would be taught to stitch up the wound, and eventually to take out the appendix. A resident should not be operating without an attending surgeon in the OR unless he or she is a senior resident and has already demonstrated competence in the procedure. Just like the coipilot flying the plane.
Rich, anything to add? Paging oncology......