Because an internal medicine doctor focuses on treating patients who are age 18 and over, these physicians have a deep understanding about a wide range of health conditions and diseases that affect adults. Whereas pediatricians treat conditions that typically affect children – which often involve colds, the flu, ear infections, strep throat, broken bones, etc. – internists are well-versed in everything from diabetes to heart disease, from headaches to hypertension.
Internal medicine physicians today know how to treat a patient with a holistic and preventive approach, rather than the old-style method of always reactively treating health problems after they appear. Let’s talk about why internal medicine doctors make the best primary care doctors for adults, how an internist treats patients, and where you can go in Tucson for outstanding concierge medicine with a personal touch.
Specialized Focus on Treating Adults
Internal medicine doctors have years of experience in diagnosing, treating, and preventing a wide range of medical conditions. They also excel at treating multiple chronic conditions at once.
Their broad range of medical knowledge, including illness and disease pathology, allows them to provide comprehensive, individualized care to adults. This takes into consideration each patient’s genetics, their personal medical history, the patient’s family’s medical history, nutrition status, lifestyle, and preference.
The internal medicine doctor is trained to quickly assess a patient’s health status at the moment, and to look for anything that must be addressed. For example, a patient may be taking treatments for neurological, cardiovascular, and endocrine conditions, so the internist will have to make sure that the various medications (1) do not have contraindications against each other, and (2) are truly effective in treating the patient’s condition.
Medical Care with a Holistic Approach
With all of these factors for the doctor to juggle, the internist knows that simply treating what ails you is unlikely to help you stay healthy over the long term. For a patient to achieve total and ongoing wellness, the doctor has to consider the whole person – physical, mental, and emotional aspects, as well as their lifestyle and preferences.
If the internist is considering which type of treatment to prescribe to you for a chronic condition, the physician will think about whether you would be likely to follow through with taking it as prescribed. Doctors are always concerned about a patient’s “adherence,” which is whether they are adhering to the prescribed treatment and whether they are taking it at the correct frequency.
Internists know that many patients begin taking a prescription to treat a chronic problem, don’t like how it makes them feel or what it does to their body, and so the patient simply stops taking the medication – and the doctor doesn’t know about it until the next appointment. Your internal medicine doctor will always work with you to find a treatment which is agreeable to you, and that may be substituting surgery with an assertive physical therapy treatment or with physician-administered pain-relief injections.
Internal Medicine Doctor in Tucson, AZ
If you are looking for an experienced internist in Tucson, Dr. Robert Lending is a board-certified internal medicine doctor who provides a wide range of primary care services for adults. Dr. Lending’s practice is a membership-based concierge medicine service, where you will always have access to your doctor.
For any questions or to request an appointment with Dr. Lending, call us today at (520) 795-4291 or use our convenient appointment request form online now. We look forward to being your personal healthcare provider!
