Physician Specialty

A physician specialty is any specific branch of medicine in which a physician may concentrate. Data are based on physician self-reports of their primary area of specialty. Physician data are broadly categorized into two general areas of practice: generalists and specialists.
Primary care generalist physicians practice in the fields of family and general practice, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics. They specifically exclude primary care specialists.
Primary care specialists practice in the subspecialties of general and family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics. The primary care subspecialties for family practice include geriatric medicine and sports medicine. Primary care subspecialties for internal medicine include diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, hematology, hepatology, cardiac electrophysiology, infectious diseases, diagnostic laboratory immunology, geriatric medicine, sports medicine, nephrology, nutrition, medical oncology, and rheumatology. Primary care subspecialties for pediatrics include adolescent medicine, critical care pediatrics, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric allergy, pediatric cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric pulmonology, pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric hematology/oncology, diagnostic laboratory immunology, pediatric nephrology, pediatric rheumatology, and sports medicine.
Specialist physicians practice in the primary care specialties, in addition to all other specialist fields not included in the generalist definition. Specialist fields include allergy and immunology, aerospace medicine, anesthesiology, cardiovascular diseases, child and adolescent psychiatry, colon and rectal surgery, dermatology, diagnostic radiology, forensic pathology, gastroenterology, general surgery, medical genetics, neurology, nuclear medicine, neurological surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, occupational medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, psychiatry, public health and general preventive medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, plastic surgery, anatomic and clinical pathology, pulmonary diseases, radiation oncology, thoracic surgery, urology, addiction medicine, critical care medicine, legal medicine, and clinical pharmacology.

SOURCE: Health, United States

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This page last reviewed January 11, 2007