Your primary care physician will maintain an up-to-date, detailed account of your current and past health problems, as well as your family history of medical conditions.

He or she will also perform periodic physical exams to assess your health status. Updating these two things is often called taking a history and physical.

Obtaining Your Medical History

Your internal medicine physician will summarize your complete medical history. This will include:

• Your reason for the visit
• Your previous or current medical issues
• Your previous surgeries
• Your current medications, including prescription and over the counter medications
  • Bring a list or a bag containing all of your medications to your physician visit
• Any medication or food allergies
• Your social history, including:
  • Marital status
  • Occupation
  • Smoking and/or alcohol use
  • Sexual history
• Medical conditions that are know to run in your family, including:
  • Early heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Colon, breast, or prostate cancers
  • Blood clotting/bleeding problems
• Your health maintenance history, including:
  • Vaccination history -- dates and types of vaccines that you have received, including vaccines for flu, pneumonia, tetanus, hepatitis, and shingles
  • Appropriate cancer screenings such as mammograms, Pap smears, colonoscopies, PSA/prostate exams
  • Your most recent cholesterol values (blood work) and your cholesterol goal
  • Your history of fall(s) in the last year, if you are over age 65
  • Osteoporosis screening for women over age 65 or patients at high risk for osteoporosis
• Your current health goals
  • For example: What is the one thing you would like to do to improve your health?
• Your current barriers to change
  • What is preventing you from reaching your maximum health status: Is it time, money, motivation, other?
• A comprehensive review of any physical complaints or symptoms you may be experiencing in any part of your body

The Physical Exam

An internist will perform a complete physical exam during an annual check-up. He or she will perform an organ-specific or symptom-specific physical exam during a routine or acute visit, based on your specific medical concerns.

A complete physical exam will include:

• Vital signs:
  • Blood pressure
  • Pulse rate
  • Height
  • Weight
  • Body mass index (BMI)
  • Temperature if clinically appropriate
• A complete organ-specific physical exam

Organ-specific physical examinations include:

• Skin exam
• HEENT (head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat) exam
• Neck exam
• Lung exam
• Heart exam
• Abdominal exam
• Genitalia exam
• Rectal exam
• Musculoskeletal exam
• Vascular exam
• Lymph node exam
• Neurological exam

Appointments

To make an appointment, call the location where you'd like to be seen.

What to expect at your appointment with a Duke internal medicine physician

Why choose an internist?

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Adams, Martha B.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
  • Community and Family Medicine / Family Medicine - General
• Aderoju, Elizabeth O.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Bastian, Lori A.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology
• Black, Tracy M.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Blackford, Susan P.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Blocker, Michael E.
  • Medicine / Medicine-Infectious Diseases
• Bowlby, Lynn A.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Coleman, Arnett
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Cooner, Edward W.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Elston, Scott C.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Evans, Edward
  • Pediatrics / Med-Pediatrics
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Fakadej, Maria M.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Greenblatt, Lawrence H.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Griffiths, William O.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Halbrooks, Ronald F.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Hart-Brothers, Elaine M.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
  • Community and Family Medicine
• Jenkins, Sharrah E.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Joy, Scott V.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Kelly, James R.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Kiss, Andrea T.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Lausier, Evangeline R.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Lee, Sabina M.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Meredith, Michael
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Metz, Louise D.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Miner, Dean S.
  • Pediatrics / Med-Pediatrics
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Noble, Richard Clay
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Orlando, Lori A.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Ostrovsky, Daniel A.
  • Pediatrics / Med-Pediatrics
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Paat, John J.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Paterson, Robert W.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Peyser, Bruce T.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Phelps, Anne F.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Ramsey, Colleen
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Rookwood, Jacqueline L.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Schecodnic, Heidi L.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Schneider, Richard J.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Seo, Esther E.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Shipley, Michael B.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Shroff, Rushad D.
  • Medicine / Medicine - Geriatrics
• Thakkar, Madhvi M.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Toher, Raymond J.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Trinh, Jane V.
  • Pediatrics / Med-Pediatrics
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Tullo, Teresa L.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Uthe, William F.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Waite, Kathleen A.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Westman, Eric C.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Woodbridge, Michael V.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine
• Zipkin, Daniella A.
  • Medicine / General Internal Medicine

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke Outpatient Clinic
  4220 North Roxboro Road, Durham, NC 27704
• Duke Primary Care Creedmoor Road
  7200 Creedmoor Road, Suite 208, Raleigh, NC 27613
• Duke Primary Care Pickett Road
  3024 Pickett Road, Durham, NC 27705
• Duke Primary Care of Galloway Ridge
  3000 Galloway Ridge, Pittsboro, NC 27312
• Durham Medical Center (Internal Medicine)
  4220 North Roxboro Road, Durham, NC 27704
• Metropolitan Durham Medical Group
  1901 Hillandale Road, Suite F, Durham, NC 27705
• Sutton Station Internal Medicine
  5832 Fayetteville Road, Suite 113, Durham, NC 27713