Glossary
Internist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential internist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key internist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in internist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Admission
- Entering the hospital.
- Code status
- Resuscitation wishes.
- Comorbidity
- Additional conditions.
- Differential diagnosis
- Possible causes.
- Discharge summary
- Notes for the next provider.
- Fellowship
- Subspecialty training.
- Goals of care
- What the patient wants from treatment.
- Hospitalist
- A physician who cares for hospital patients.
- Internal medicine
- Adult medicine.
- Palliative care
- Comfort-focused care.
- Polypharmacy
- Taking many medications.
- Readmission
- Returning to the hospital soon.
- Rounds
- Daily patient reviews.
- Sepsis
- Life-threatening infection response.
- Telemetry
- Continuous heart monitoring.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Internist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Internist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.