Modern medicine generally refers to clinical practice: the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease by a physician. That physician may be an allopathic physician (M.D.) or an osteopathic physician (D.O.).

Allopathic and osteopathic physicians are trained to practice in primary care and medical specialties to prevent, diagnose, and treat injury and disease. Primary care physicians may practice family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics. Specialty careers in medicine include:

• Anesthesiology
• Emergency Medicine
• Obstetrics & gynecology
• Palliative care
• Pathology
• Psychiatry
• Surgery

It is important to note that the scope of medicine is wider than its clinical practice. It also includes health care science: the application of science and technology to improve the delivery of care. For example, physician scientists conduct basic science and perform translational or clinical research, and biogerontologists are physicians who study what happens to our bodies as we age.

Additionally, as there is greater need for clinical practitioners, those who practice medicine have expanded beyond physicians to include physician assistants and nurse practitioners. While nurse practitioners are considered part of the nursing field rather than medicine, their jobs are similar to physician assistants. Both work with physicians as part of an integrated medical team. Like physicians, they diagnose and treat illness and disease and prescribe medication for patients.

Learn More

• Read more about careers in medicine on AACOM’s Become a Doctor website and AAMC’s Aspiring Docs website.
• Hear from physicians, advisors, and more on the AACOM YouTube channel, and the AAMC YouTube channel.

The Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine have reviewed this overview.