Traditionally, the practice of internal medicine has focused on the care of individual patients, while preventive medicine has assumed the perspective of the population as a whole. Both specialties share a concern about the impact of adverse exposures in the production of illness and disease, as well as the positive impacts of health-promoting behaviors. The overlap in disciplines is evident in areas of shared interest, such as occupational health and environmental medicine, clinical epidemiology and decision sciences, health services research, and disease prevention and health promotion.
The objective of combined resident training in internal medicine and preventive medicine is to produce physicians with broad-based training in both specialties. Such graduates would be trained to provide preventive, clinical and rehabilitative care in ambulatory and hospital settings; to apply the skills required to study the effects of the environment, including the occupational environment, on the health of individuals, families and communities; and to advance the health of the public by promoting health-enhancing behaviors.
The strengths of the residencies in internal medicine and preventive medicine should complement each other to provide an optimal educational experience to trainees.
