What is Med-Peds?

So what is Med-Peds?

What is a Med-Peds Physician?

What makes you different than a Family Medicine Physician?

These questions, and similar questions, are something that I get asked about a lot, both by med students and by patients. It's an exciting question, although a somewhat complicated answer.

So, what is a Med-Peds Physician? Well, a Med-Peds physician is trained in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Typically, each training program is a 3-year program. Before the introduction of the Med-Peds residency, if you wanted to be trained in both, you would have to complete an Internal Medicine and Pediatric residency, totaling about 6 years. However, given the significant overlap between the training of both programs, in 1967, the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics recognized a 4 year combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics training program. As such, we bounce back between Internal Medicine and Pediatrics throughout our training. As with my residency, we would spend 3 months on the Internal Medicine side, then the next 3 months on the Pediatric side, constantly switching until we complete the entire 4 years. We do the same rotations as our Internal Medicine and Pediatric colleagues and are expected to have the same set of skills on each side by the time we are done. As such, we are board eligible for both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and board-certified once we have completed our testing. 

Simply put, I am trained to treat babies, kids, teens, adults, and the elderly. 

Typically with this explanation, the 2nd question follows: What makes you different than a Family Medicine Physician?

In primary care, we function very similarly. We are capable of seeing kids as well as adults. We do physical, routine visits, sick visits, and practice the same preventative healthcare standards. Where our difference comes in most often comes in our training. Family Medicine Physicians go through residency as well for 3 years. They train in the same hospitals as us and take many of the same rotations in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. They also do additional rotations we don't often take, including rotations in Obstetrics, gynecology, surgery, and psychiatry. After residency and their boards, they are considered Family Medicine physicians.

Now, while we share several characteristics, there are just as many differences. With Med-Peds, you are a candidate for Internal Medicine and Pediatrics fellowships after residency. In Family Medicine, several fellowships are also available, but they are separate from the previously discussed ones. If you want to be a cardiologist or a Pediatrics ICU physician, you need to 1st be trained in Internal Medicine or Pediatrics, respectively. 

A second difference comes from the training programs themselves. Family Medicine covers a wide array of areas. While this is great for general experience, what is gained in exposure is often lost in depth within these areas. Med-Peds providers, considered in the same positions as their categorical colleagues throughout residency, get much more in-depth into Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. With our colleagues, we become more comfortable caring for sick, complex patients on both sides than our Family Medicine friends. Now, do not take this that Family Medicine trained physicians cannot take care of ill patients. There are many residency programs in the nation where the Family Medicine Residents are the ONLY physicians in the hospital, so they do EVERYTHING. But, in general, as Med-Peds physicians are more exposed to sicker adults and kids, they become more comfortable taking care of patients with higher complexity. 

Ultimately, all of our goals are the same: to serve our patients to the best of our abilities. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there are always exceptions to the rules. But it is a conversation starter and offers a glimpse into how we see ourselves compared to our Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine colleagues. 

Next time we will dive deeper into a more challenging question:

Why Med-Peds?

P.S. For those interested in learning more about Med-Peds, the National Med-Peds Residents' Association (NMPRA) has a great guide that goes more in-depth about the specifics of Med-Peds.

https://medpeds.org/medical-students/guide-to-med-peds/