Internal medicine professionals, including doctors, nurses, and other providers, are trained to conduct various tests and procedures to evaluate, diagnose, monitor, manage, and treat patients. These procedures require experience, skill, and often additional training and medical credentials to ensure patient comfort, optimize outcomes, and minimize side effects.

Common tests and procedures performed or ordered by internal medicine specialists include:

• Venipuncture (blood draw) for blood testing
• Arterial puncture for blood gas analysis
• Endotracheal intubation
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy
• Intravenous (IV) line insertion
• Nasogastric (NG) tube placement
• Urinary catheter placement

Some internists are trained in more complex or invasive procedures such as thoracentesis, lumbar puncture, and paracentesis.

Additionally, internal medicine specialists may order or perform tests and procedures in various categories, including:

• Allergy: Skin testing, rhinoscopy
• Cardiology: Cardiac stress testing, echocardiograms
• Endocrinology: Thyroid biopsy, dynamic hormone testing, bone density testing Oropharyngeal cancer screening
• Pulmonary: Intubation and ventilator management, bronchoscopy, chest tube thoracostomy, tracheostomy placement
• Rheumatology: Joint aspiration and therapeutic injection

Invasive procedures may be guided by ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), while flexible fiber-optic instruments may be utilized to access difficult-to-reach areas of the body.