[Reflections on internal medicine in university-affiliated hospitals (author's transl)].

The author analyzes the origins of the crisis of Internal Medicine and deals with its present situation as it is currently lived in the academic institutions. The identity and qualities of the internist are discussed, and the requirements to be fulfilled for a physician to be defined as an internist are outlined. The main conditions for the proper operation of an Internal Medicine Department are defined as it regards its structure and the different facets of the assistant, teaching and research functions. Finally, the author discusses the roles of the internists and the specialists in the fulfillment of the above functions.