The Daily Schedule Of A Physician

Physicians train in the discipline of internal medicine which deals with illnesses and conditions that affect the different systems of the human body. Physicians gain skills in managing and treating patients who have multi-system or undifferentiated disease processes. These specialists take care of ambulatory and hospitalized patients and they can also be involved in teaching and research in the academic environment. Due to the fact that internal medicine patients are often quite ill or require specialist investigations, physicians perform most of their work in hospitals. Physicians will also tend to patients who are admitted in ICU's as they have training in critical medicine.

A general physician will consult patients who suffer from various systemic conditions. The most common issues tend to be chronic conditions, such as complicated or resistant hypertension, diabetes and airway related conditions as well as acute infectious conditions, such as pneumonia or septicaemia. If the specialist feels that a patient needs a sub-specialist opinion in a specific system, they will then refer the patient accordingly. In rural settings, general physicians will also consult and manage patients who need sub-specialist doctors such as strokes, heart attacks and contagious infectious diseases, etc. 

Training

The training of a physician varies depending on which country the training is offered. A medical student will first have to pass their undergraduate degree, bachelor of medicine and surgery (M.B.,Ch.B), in order to qualify as a medical doctor. Thereafter, 1-2 years of mandatory internship training has to be completed in order to expose the newly qualified doctor to clinical training. After these years have been completed, the doctor can then decide to apply for a post in internal medicine at the medical school of their choice.

The availability of specialist posts will depend on whether there is actual space to accommodate new candidates, and will also depend on whether specialists are available in order to train these candidates. When a doctor has applied for an internal medicine post, they will be invited for an interview in front of a selection panel. If they are successful with their interview, they may then be invited to fill the post on offer.

READ Reviewed By Physicians: Top Ten Cardiology Apps

The postgraduate training programme of internal medicine lasts 4-5 years. In order for a doctor to become a specialist physician, they will have to successfully complete their theoretical and practical training in this discipline. Once the doctor has specialised, they can decide to continue as consultants in an academic setup where they will be involved with the training of other potential physicians, continue consulting and managing patients in private practice or specialise further in a sub-specialty of internal medicine. Sub-specialty training will involve completing a further 1-2 years of a fellowship course in the chosen sub-discipline.

Sub-specialties of internal medicine include:

• Neurology
• Cardiology
• Pulmonology
• Gastroenterology
• Hepatology
• Endocrinology
• Nephrology
• Infectious dieases
• Rheumatology
• Allergy specialist
• Haematology

The Physician's Diary

A note should be made that a physician will consult with their hospital patients on a daily basis and in some cases even twice a day. If a physician is on call for the hospital over a weekend, then they will see their own patients and their colleagues' patients on those days. These patients include those admitted to the general ward as well as patients in the ICU. Physicians may even have to drive between different hospitals to see patients.

Physicians also have to regularly, and on a daily basis, follow up on laboratory tests and special investigations which have been done on patients in order to prescribe the correct form of treatment after discussing these results with the patient.

Physicians may be called at odd times of the day to see patients, especially those admitted in ICU who need aggressive and specialised care. If these patients' conditions change then these doctors will need to be available in order to give specific orders to the nursing staff.

Monday

Mondays usually begin with administrative duties which include sorting out meetings with medical reps and the hospital management. Other administrative issues may also include dealing with the finances of a private practice. Those physicians in the academic setup usually have meetings with colleagues and clinical assistants to deal with the academic programmes for under- and postgraduates. 

A physician will also consult patients in their rooms or in the clinics. Here, they will see patients with acute and chronic medical conditions and they may even admit patients to the wards if deemed necessary. Depending on the on-call roster of the hospital, physicians can be contacted by primary healthcare workers and casualty doctors to see patients in the emergency room as well. The physician will be on call for 24 hours and this can be the case every 3rd or 4th day depending on availability of doctors.

Tuesday

Some general physicians may decide to have specific days reserved for consulting with patients who have specific chronic conditions. These doctors may consult with hypertensive patients on a Tuesday as well as manage emergency patients who are discussed with the doctor, as mentioned above. 

This is done in order to help the physician cope with the patient load as they can concentrate on one specific chronic condition while having to still see patients who are ill with acute issues such as pneumonia, bronchitis, meningitis, etc.

Wednesday

Wednesdays may be reserved for seeing diabetic patients in the office. Physicians involved with the training of under- and postgraduate students may use this day to offer academic lectures or training in clinical skills of these students and doctors.

READ The End of Doctors in the US Health System?

Thursday

Thursday morning may be reserved to see patients with chronic respiratory-related conditions. The afternoons may be used for going through patient files and refilling chronic prescriptions, writing letters of motivation to other specialists and medical insurance companies or for dictating of patients' clinical information for the doctors own files or for giving feedback to referring practitioners. 

Friday

On Fridays a physician will consult with general patients or those with a specific chronic condition in their rooms. This day will also be used to finalise any administrative issues, and to either hand over patients to the doctor who will be on call for the weekend or to accept the care of patients if they themselves are on call.