General medicine is the branch of medicine that is practised by physicians and describes internal medicine applicable to adults.  It should be considered as a distinct speciality, separate from the other main specialities of surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry, and pathology.

General medicine includes many subspecialities, including chest (respiratory) medicine (lungs), cardiology (heart and blood vessels), gastroenterology (gut), endocrinology (glands, such as thyroid or adrenal gland), nephrology (kidneys), rheumatology (bones and joints), etc.  Consultant physicians often practise in general medicine but with a special interest in one of the subspecialities, or they may practise only in their subspeciality.

General medicine covers a huge range of illnesses and diseases and there are, therefore, a very large number of potential areas that can involve clinical negligence.