<p>I think I just want to be a physician of internal medicine. After residency...do you get a fellowship in a different area than internal medicine? What are your options in internal medicine after residency? Do you eventually have to pick a specialty (i.e., cardiology), or does internal medicine serve as a specialty itself? What are my options?</p>
<p>You can just do the internal medicine residency after med school and start practicing as an internist. If you want to specialize (like becoming a cardiologist), you will have to do a fellowship after you finish your internal medicine residency, but that's optional.</p>
<p>There are many internal medicine programs which offer a "primary care" track within the standard IM residency. Usually this means an increased amount of time spent in ambulatory settings (ie in clinic, rather than on inpatient services). Likewise "hospitalist" tracks are also growing in number, with the corollary being true - more months spent on hospital services and in the ICU than out in a clinic setting. Programs offering these and other various tracks within their program can be found by searching the FREIDA database on the AMA website.</p>