Forum for internal medicine: opinions and controversies.

Abstract

814 in this way it was easier to upkeep the internal medicine units. It is high time that we protested firmly against the depreciation of the significance of internal dis­ eases in clinical practice. The reasons for this are many, for example they stem from the fact that only the internal medicine specialists can provide a holistic approach to the patient, while at the same time acting as doctors who solve numerous and very difficult clinical problems, working both in their own units as well as in surgical, neurol­ ogy, infectious diseases, dermatology units, etc. It is known that the internal medicine special­ ists function successfully for example in the Unit­ ed States. It has become apparent that experi­ enced internists are a “treasure” for the hospi­ tal because they are able to analyze the majori­ ty of additional tests, be it endoscopic, imaging, or laboratory examination. Then, taking into ac­ count a clinical picture of a disease, they are able to synthesize all information based on which they tie all loose ends, thus providing a correct diag­ nosis. One should not forget that a precise diag­ nosis based on accurate actions and subsequent recommendation of a proper treatment trans­ lates into tangible economic results. Such actions in a more and more complex area of medicine re­ quire the implementation of a detailed differen­ tial diagnosis of diseases, which does not only re­ late to the work in the internal medicine units but also to consultations in different units for which internists are essential and which also proves to be the reason for their “exploitation”. If we do not restore due importance of internal medicine and its specialists, then we can antici­ pate that in the near future we will witness more and more mistakes committed by doctors as re­ gards diagnosis and therapy. Generally speaking, we could be faced with a certain chaos in the area of diagnosis and treatment. We need to remember that in medicine and in patient treatment 2×2 is not always 4. Frequent­ ly, during the diagnostic process and also during For more than a decade now, we have been ob­ serving the continued depreciation of internal diseases and internal medicine specialists de­ spite a huge need for their services, which can be noted in the current activity of the hospitals and outpatient clinics. It was reflected in the closing of internal medicine clinics and supplementing the names of internal medicine units with addi­ tional terminology related to the detailed special­ izations rising from the internal medicine, since FORUM FOR INTERNAL MEDICINE