Internal Medicine

Internal medicine has multiple facets:

• Diagnosis: A proper diagnosis is the corner stone of internal medicine. Proper diagnosis of a patient’s illness allows the doctor to know what is wrong, to anticipate what the outcome will be, and how to treat the patient. Making a diagnosis is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle…the doctor first collects a careful history from the owner by listening attentively. The veterinarian then completes a careful physical examination and orders the appropriate lab work to help establish a diagnosis. Having done all of this, the doctor will then review the lab results to see if they agree or conflict with the physical examination and tentative diagnosis. The veterinarian’s diagnosis may change as additional information about the case becomes available. Through past experience, reading and reviewing our database, and sometimes consulting board certified specialists, the doctor can make an intelligent decision as to the nature of the pet’s illness.
• Treatment: Based on the diagnosis, treatment may or may not be necessary. The doctor will establish a treatment plan, based on experience, research, and the probability of success. The treatment may be either medical, surgical, or a combination of both.
• Review: Careful follow up on the patient is necessary to determine if the treatment is working.