Reflections on internal medicine in Poland on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Polish Archives of Internal Medicine.

ABSTRACT

Dynamic development of medicine in the 20th and 21st centuries has only been possible due to its split into narrow specialties. The increasingly complicated and costly technologies used in clinical practice can only be mastered by small groups of highly­ qualified specialists; however, diagnosis and treatment are not about matching a patient with the latest and most sophisticated technologies but about finding an optimal patient­ oriented solution, as it is the human being as a whole that needs help. To achieve this goal, a close collaboration of different specialists is required, but the key role rests with a physician with good general internal medicine skills and the right motivation to act. Management of patients presenting to internal medicine departments requires not only the skill of appropriate pathophysiological reasoning based on extensive knowledge and acquired experience, but many times also the civil courage of the physician. The task is further complicated by chronic underfunding of these wards. The aim of the present review is to reflect on the current state and prospects of Polish internal medicine as well as to attempt a definition of an internist and their role in the integration of different medical specialties. It also stresses the importance of a master in the teaching and practice of medicine and presents profiles of 4 eminent Polish internists.