What level Physician skill should an MD have?

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Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

And for that matter, what's an "internist"?

Specialists in Internal Medicine. In GURPS terms, they are the ones with the highest levels of Diagnosis. Dr. House is a cinematic version.

Around 1980 I was on the ferry from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Isle Royale, and the irrepressible NPS forest ranger, Ranger Bob, gave a presentation on wilderness survival. Besides sharing some neat tricks like drilling holes in your toothbrush to reduce weight, he asked for those in the audience who had first aid training to raise their hands. My father, sitting next to me, raised his hand, and I stared at him uncomprehendingly - where and when did he learn that?

He was trained in first aid as a physician, of course, and in earlier years did duty in the emergency ward in a big-city hospital.

On the other hand, as a cardiologist who likes to take Extra Time for all kinds of tasks, he isn't the person I'd want to go to for emergency surgery. For diagnosis in his specialty - absolutely, and he did fine treating my bronchitis, strep throat and sprained joints from time to time (Physician skill, I assume).

As an aside, when I was even younger I went with my Dad to the hospital on weekends when he was on call. I thought: "those poor doctors in the oncology department, they must always be on call".