Internal medicine has various subspecialties, including hematology, cardiology, pulmonology, oncology, and gastroenterology. Hematology deals with blood disorders, cardiology focuses on heart diseases, pulmonology deals with lung diseases, oncology treats cancer, and gastroenterology focuses on the intestines and stomach. Students in these fields require extensive training to become specialists.
Internal medicine is a branch of medicine that focuses primarily on diagnosing and treating disease. As there are countless areas in the human body that are prone to disease, there are several subspecialties that focus on different areas of internal medicine. Consequently, there are several types of internal medicine courses available. Some of the most common courses include the study of hematology, cardiology, pulmonology, oncology and gastroenterology.
Hematology is one of the courses in internal medicine that deals with the treatment of blood disorders. Students taking these courses often study topics such as the nature of blood cells, clotting, and hemoglobin. The ultimate goal of learning about this subject is to treat individuals suffering from blood disorders like hemophilia, where the body is unable to produce blood clots to stop a wound from bleeding. Students can also study the process of blood transfusions.
Cardiology is a branch of internal medicine that focuses on diseases that affect the heart. Internal medicine courses in this field often focus on cardiovascular disease, which leads to some of the deadliest types of heart disease. Most students in this field train to become cardiologists who work to treat heart defects and disease. Because performing medical procedures on the heart requires a lot of experience, most students must spend at least 10 years studying to become a cardiologist.
Another common category of internal medicine courses is pulmonology, which deals with lung disease and other complications involving the lungs. In these courses, students train to become pulmonologists who treat conditions such as emphysema, lung cancer and tuberculosis. Majoring in pulmonology usually requires graduating from medical school and is followed by another three or four years of schooling.
Oncology is a field of study that focuses on treating cancer. Students enrolled in these internal medicine courses often study topics such as treating cancer with chemotherapy and radiation. Along with this, students usually learn about performing X-rays and ultrasounds to detect cancerous cells. Like other internal medicine majors, oncology often requires extensive training that can take more than a decade to complete.
An additional branch of internal medicine is gastroenterology, which mainly deals with the intestines and stomach. The study of this subject will prepare students to become a gastroenterologist, who will be trained to examine patients suffering from diseases of the intestines and stomach. Individuals in this field never perform surgery, but they play a key role in identifying diseases and ultimately saving many people’s lives.
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