General medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists, or physicians . Internists are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes.

Internists care for hospitalized and ambulatory patients and may play a major role in teaching and research. Because internal medicine patients are often seriously ill or require complex investigations, internists do much of their work in hospitals. Internists often have subspecialty interests in diseases affecting particular organs or organ systems.