The tidal wave of diabetes over the last two decades has made it one of the most common diseases that internists and family doctors treat.
Ray et al. have shown that internists can achieve acceptable sensitivity and high specificity for carotid plaque detection, resulting in high positive and negative predictive values [10].
These findings are similar to those of a recent national survey in the US, which found that internists met with PRs ten times per month, pediatricians eight times per month, and surgeons four times per month [11].
We recommend that internists performing perioperative consults communicate directly with the consulting physician to ensure that all parties are in accordance as to each others duties.
Clinicians would determine where their patients lay on a spectrum of irritability severity in the same way that internists determine the levels of hypertension in their patients.
It is important to note that Internists are considered secondary care physicians in the Netherlands, and patients require a referral from their general practitioner.
Our results suggest that internists of different sub-specialties have different opinions on the reporting of diabetes as the UCD with regard to the role that diabetes played in "initiating" the chain of events leading to death.
ABIM certification has meant that internists have demonstrated - to their peers and to the public - that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care.
In our study the opinion was often expressed that internists might provide inadequate preventive care for children, while paediatricians might do the same in caring for adult or elderly people.
This study further suggests that internists of different sub-specialties have different opinions on the reporting of diabetes as the UCD, especially when the diabetic patient has a coexisting cardiovascular disease.
