When you are faced with a new healthcare issue, it can be difficult to navigate all the new vocabulary you have to learn to understand your treatment options. Kidney care is no exception to this. If you are dealing with a kidney disorder, understanding the relationship between kidney-specific medicine and internal medicine can go a long way to making this process easier. If I need kidney care such as dialysis, should I go to a specialist in internal medicine in Deerfield Beach?
What Is Internal Medicine?
Doctors who practice internal medicine focus on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases for adults. Titles for this type of doctor include internal medicine doctor or internist. They are not the same thing as general practitioners, and they particularly focus on internal organs such as the liver, heart, lungs, and kidneys.
Understanding the relationship between all of these organs is very important so it makes sense to have these linked within internal medicine. They are able to determine how kidney disease may be connected to issues with other organs. Other conditions that doctors of internal medicine have experience with include hypertension, obesity, lung disease, and diabetes. This expertise makes them well suited to consult with other doctors to try to connect the dots if the cause of an illness is not clear.
Nephrology is the subspecialty of internal medicine that relates to taking care of the kidneys. Those who specialize in nephrology have two years of fellowship training in nephrology after three years of a regular internal medicine residency. Those who specialize in this area treat acute and chronic kidney diseases. If you need dialysis, this is the doctor who should refer you to a dialysis center.
So, the answer to your question, should you see an internist for kidney care? Yes, especially if they specialize in nephrology.
Where Is the Best Place to go for Kidney Care if I Am Referred by a Doctor in Internal Medicine in Deerfield Beach?
At First Class Kidney Care, we offer multiple care options for those with kidney disease. We are here for you if you have been referred for kidney care from a specialist in internal medicine in Deerfield.
Contact us today by calling 754-307-9256 to make an appointment. Our priority is providing high-quality, personalized care for each patient that we treat!