General Internal Medicine

The goal of this chapter is to discuss the following important topics in internal medicine that are not covered thoroughly in other chapters: the interpretation of diagnostic tests, preoperative risk assessment, anticoagulation issues, tobacco abuse, acute low back pain, otorhinolaryngology for the internist, and common eye disorders. Diagnostic tests are tools that either increase or decrease the likelihood of disease. When a diagnostic test is applied to a population at risk of a particular disease, patients in the studied population can be assigned to 1 of 4 groups on the basis of disease status and the test result: true positive, true negative, false positive, false negative. Common problems encountered in a general internal medicine practice, such as tobacco abuse, acute low back pain, vision issues, and ear, nose, and throat complaints, are also reviewed.