Is medical management of endocrine disorders involving the reproductive system a part of clinical endocrinology, a subspecialty of internal medicine? If this question had been asked of the founders of endocrinology, it probably would have raised a few eyebrows. In the modern medicine scheme, the nonsurgical aspects of endocrinology are most aptly taught in internal medicine-endocrinology training programs and practiced by internist-endocrinologists. The trainees of medicalendocrine programs have a high likelihood of having received the best available training and experience to manage patients with endocrine disorders—that is, disorders related to hormone-producing organs throughout the body, such as the thyroid gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, testicles, ovaries, and other glands. Most research in the field of endocrinology has evolved in departments associated with internal medicine and the basic sciences. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that endocrinology, as a clinical specialty, actually arose from studies of endocrine functions of the reproductive glands [see the writings of John Hunter (1728-1793), Arnold Adolf Berthold (1803-1861), Claude Bernard (1813-1878), Charles Edouard Brown-Sequard (1817-1894), and others]. Thus, studies dealing with endocrinology of the reproductive system heralded the evolution of the field of endocrinology. PUBLICATION TRENDS