Family Practice MD vs. General Internal Medicine MD ~ difference?

Bernadette Roel: The main difference is the post med school training and their patient base. A family practice doc after med school completes a 3 year family medicine residency. Their job is basically primary care for anyone ranging from infants to the elderly. These guys you usually find working out of clinics or offices, they can be in hospital but generally are not. If you think of the small town doc who can do everything from deliver a baby or care for the dying, that's a family practice doc. An General Internist go through a 3 year residency in Internal Medicine. There primary goal is diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of specifically adults. They can be primary care similar to the family practice doc except only in adults or they can be in a more acute care setting in hospitals like in the ICU. After their residency, an internal medicine doc can then specialize into various fields like Gastroenterology, cardiology, neurology, endocrinology etc. etc. One more thing! , a General Practitioner or GP is not equivalent to either of these fields. A GP has completed a 1 year internship post medical school and has not done any further training. Calling an Internist or Family doc, a "GP", is actually derogatory and you are insulting them....Show more