Medical specialty - Simple English Wikipedia

# Medical specialty

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Medicine is a very complex field. In the past, a doctor could learn almost all that we knew about medicine. Now that is impossible. So after finishing medical school, young doctors choose what kind of doctor they wish to be. After school, they usually do more years of training to learn about the kind of medical specialty they want to do.

Some doctors try to learn some about all of the different subjects of medicine and how to treat all patients. These kind of doctors are called 'primary care' doctors. Sometimes they are also called 'generalists' or even 'general practitioners.' In the United States these kind of doctors are called family practitioners or family doctors.

There are other doctors who are also 'primary care' doctors. Pediatricians are primary care doctors, but only for children. Internists (or doctors who practice internal medicine) are primary care doctors for adults. Some gynecologists do primary care, but for women only.

Other doctors are called 'specialists'. This means they have learned more about certain types of medical care. A dermatologist is a doctor who knows more about the skin and diseases of the skin. A psychiatrist is a doctor who knows more about thought and mood and mental illnesses like depression and schizophrenia. An orthopedic surgeon is a doctor who knows about bones and joints and fixes them when they are broken or diseased.

Some types of specialists must learn one of the 'primary care' fields of medicine before they become specialists. Pulmonologists are doctors who specialize in diseases of the lungs and breathing. Before a doctor becomes a pulmonologist, she must first become a pediatrician or an internist.

The words 'generalist' and 'specialist' are not always perfect for describing some types of doctors. For example, gynecologists are usually called primary care doctors for women. But gynecologists are surgeons. Some gynecologists may only want to take care of a woman's 'reproductive organs' (the female organs: like the uterus, ovaries, and vagina.) Other doctors like emergency doctors are called specialists, but they may take care of all kinds of problems in any kind of patient.

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