Skills
Internist Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in internists, and how to build and show them.
What skills do internists need?
Internists need technical skills such as diagnostic reasoning, chronic disease management, and hospital medicine, plus people skills like critical thinking and communication. They also use tools such as Electronic health records and Diagnostic imaging systems.
Technical (hard) skills
- Diagnostic reasoning
- Chronic disease management
- Hospital medicine
- Pharmacology
- Interpreting tests
- Care transitions
People (soft) skills
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Empathy
- Teamwork
Tools, equipment and technology
- Electronic health records
- Diagnostic imaging systems
- Lab systems
- Clinical guidelines
- Telemetry monitors
- Exam tools
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how internists put their skills to work:
- How to build a differential diagnosis
- How to lead a goals-of-care conversation
- How to write a discharge plan that prevents readmission
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Diagnostic reasoning” and “Chronic disease management.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “critical thinking,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as ABIM board certification near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our internist glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Internist training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.