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Clinical Medicine: General Internal Medicine (GIM)

Core readings in GIM

What is General Internal Medicine?

General Internal Medicine is "a subspecialty of Internal Medicine which embraces the values of generalism, is aligned with population needs, and promotes the practitioner’s ability to adapt their practice profile when population needs change.  General Internists are prepared to diagnose and manage patients with common and emergency internal medicine conditions, and are able to do so when the individual has multiple conditions and with limited access to other subspecialists. General Internists provide comprehensive care of the adult patient in an integrated fashion as opposed to an organ-centered or disease-centered approach. They are prepared to maintain stability of patients with multisystem disorders over the long-term or during physiological stresses such as during pregnancy or the peri-operative period.

General Internists advocate for their individual patients as well as for all patients within complex healthcare delivery systems, by aiming to optimize and not maximize care including prevention of other conditions. General Internists recognize that the practice of medicine is tightly linked to the art and science of health care delivery and, by virtue of their pivotal role are uniquely placed to engage in quality improvement, patient safety, and healthcare systems initiatives."  - From Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons General Internal Medicine Objectives

To learn more about General Internal Medicine – proceed to the Royal college of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada website.  [Note: You will need to go to the “Information by Subspecialty” menu and select “General Internal Medicine”]

The objectives for GIM outline the key areas of competence for GIM which are captured in the literature in this online guide:

  • Risk Reduction (Prevention – Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Obesity)
  • Perioperative Care
  • Obstetrical Medicine
  • Common & Emergent Internal Medicine Conditions (Landmark Papers)
  • Ability to adapt practice profile (Medical Education – Lifelong Learning)
  • Advocacy (Medical Education)

The Canadian Society of Internal Medicine is the national specialty society for General Internists – more information can be found on their website

http://www.csim.ca/

GIM at the University of Saskatchewan

Information about the General Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of Saskatchewan can be found at: http://www.medicine.usask.ca/medicine/divisions/gim/index.html