Examples of cases typically managed by an internal medicine specialist include animals presenting with anorexia, polyphagia, polydipsia/polyuria, vomiting, diarrhoea, coughing, dyspnoea, decreased endurance, obesity, anaemia, icterus, urinary incontinence, pyrexia, episodic weakness or seizures.
A Specialist in internal medicine can:
- Perform physical and laboratory diagnosis, management and prognosis of internal medicine diseases of small animals.
- Perform or interpret specialized laboratory studies used in the examination of internal medicine diseases. These include:
- Specialised endocrine, metabolic or genetic disease testing
- Interpretation of diagnostic imaging findings
- Tissue sampling
- Endoscopy of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinary tracts
- Make a diagnostic and treatment plan for each patient
- Perform some interventional procedures
- Manage emergency medical cases
If you are interested in applying for an ECVIM-CA residency in internal medicine, please consult the list of vacancies.