Doctors: Specialties and Training - Introduction, Doctors: Specialties and Training, Medicine, Medical Specialties Medical Reference Medical Encyclopedia Information

Doctors: Specialties and Training - Introduction, Doctors: Specialties and Training, Medicine, Medical Specialties Medical Reference Medical Encyclopedia Information


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Medicine > Medical Specialties > Doctors: Specialties and Training
Medical Encyclopedia Info on Doctors: Specialties and Training
Doctors: Specialties and Training - Introduction
Becoming a fully trained physician is a long and arduous task. It usually begins with the completion of 4 years of college followed by 4 years of medical school. This is followed by residency and sometimes fellowship training in a particular specialty (and sometimes a subspecialty) that may last as long as 10 years. Once the initial training is completed, a doctor continues the task of lifelong learning to maintain the skills necessary to practice medicine.
Although the training to become a physician is long and demanding, the reward of being able to help people and have an intellectually stimulating career is something that most physicians feel is more than worth the effort.
Medical School Training
Most medical schools require a minimum of 3-4 years of college to apply. Most require college graduation, although a few programs combine college or graduate school and medical school. In the United States, medical school lasts 4 years and includes 2 years of basic science courses such as the following:
Anatomy
Neuroanatomy
Histology
Embryology
Behavioral Sciences
Genetics
Physiology (Neurophysiology)
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Pharmacology
Pathology
This is followed by 2 years of clinical sciences in which the medical student sees and treats patients under the close supervision of fully trained physicians. During these 2 years, the medical students usually spend 1 year of 2-month-long rotations in specialties such as the following:
Pediatrics
Internal Medicine
General Surgery
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Psychiatry
Family Practice
Emergency Medicine
A year of elective choices follows in any of about 50 specialties and subspecialties such as the following:
Orthopedic Surgery
Plastic Surgery
Ophthalmology
Neurosurgery
Oncology
Radiation Oncology
Cardiology
Nephrology
Neonatology
Pulmonology
Endocrinology
In the United States, medical students are required to pass national board exams that assure they have a firm grasp of basic and clinical sciences. When students have graduated from medical school and received their medical degree, and passed these tests, they advance to residency training. The first postgraduate year of residency is often referred to as internship.
There are 2 types of medical schools in the United States: allopathic and osteopathic. Students from both medical training programs must pass the same national board exam and may choose to pursue careers in any medical specialty or subspecialty. In the US, both types of graduates are equally qualified to practice medicine.
Allopathic students receive a medical doctorate (MD).
Osteopathic students receive the equivalent medical degree, a doctorate in osteopathic medicine (DO). Medical schools that train doctors of osteopathic medicine tend to place a greater emphasis on training physicians to be family physicians, although any specialty residency (such as those listed above) can be entered after graduation. Their education is the same as allopathic (MD) school, but in addition it includes courses in musculoskeletal manipulation and nutrition, with emphasis on the whole person.
Residency Training
Near the end of medical school, each medical student selects a specialty for residency training. There are currently 24 medical specialties recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Medical specialties include the following:
Allergy & Immunology
Anesthesiology
Dermatology
Emergency Medicine
Family Practice
General Surgery
Internal Medicine
Medical Genetics
Neurological Surgery
Nuclear Medicine
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Orthopaedic Surgery
Otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat or ENT)
Pathology
Pediatrics
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Plastic Surgery
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry & Neurology
Radiology
General Surgery
Thoracic Surgery
Urology
After graduation from medical school, these individuals have earned the right to be called doctor, but they are a long way from completing the skills necessary to safely practice medicine.
Fully trained physicians must now supervise them for a period of 3-5 years. The majority of the training occurs in teaching hospitals and hospital-affiliated clinics. Specialty training is a long and difficult process. These young physicians regularly work more than 100 hours a week for a very modest salary. Every third or fourth day, they work all night and may continue to work throughout the following day. These long 36-hour workdays, though difficult on the mind and body, are felt to be necessary in many training programs so the physicians get to see the full spectrum of a patient’s care, from arrival in the emergency department, through admission, and into the first 36 hours of care when the most difficult decisions are made.
At the completion of residency training, physicians are considered to be specialists and are board eligible. Most graduates elect to take these difficult additional written and oral board exams, often with pass rates as low as 50%, that certify their knowledge base and skills. Physicians who pass these exams are allowed to state that they are a board certified practitioner in their chosen specialty.
Fellowship Training
After completing a 3-5 year residency, about 30% of the fully trained physicians elect to pursue additional training to become subspecialists.
Subspecialty training may last an additional 1-4 years. Usually the focus of subspecialty training is fairly narrow and allows the physician to obtain knowledge and skills needed to perform additional procedures or focus on treating patients with a particular type of problem. Most subspecialties have additional board exams at the end of their training qualifying the physician to be a board certified subspecialist.
The most common specialties and subspecialties, as well as the years of training required, are listed here. In some cases, more than one specialty training may qualify a physician for fellowship training.
Dermatology - 4 years
Dermatopathology - 1-2 years
Emergency Medicine - 3-4 years
Pediatric Emergency Medicine - 2 years
Sports Medicine - 1-2 years
Toxicology - 2 years
Family Practice - 3 years
Geriatrics - 2 years
Neurology - 4 years
Electromyography (EMG) - 1-2 years
Neuromuscular Diseases - 1-2 years
Electroencephalography (EEG) - 1-2 years
Epilepsy - 1-2 years
Behavioral Neurology/Dementia - 1-2 years
Cerebrovascular Diseases/Stroke - 1-2 years
Movement Disorders - 1-2 years
Neuroimmunology - 1-2 years
Neuro-Oncology - 1-2 years
Pain - 1-2 years
Headache - 1-2 years
Neuro-Ophthalmology - 1 year
Critical Care Neurology - 1 year
Neuroimaging - 1 year
Sleep - 1 year
Ophthalmology - 4 years
Neuro-ophthalmology - 2 years
Retina - 2 years
Glaucoma - 2 years
Oculoplastics - 1 year
Plastic Surgery - 5-6 years
Hand Surgery - 2 years
Internal Medicine - 3 years
Allergy & Immunology - 2 years
Cardiology - 3 years
Critical Care - 2-3 years
Endocrinology - 2 years
Gastroenterology - 3 years
Geriatrics -2 years
Hematology and Oncology - 2-3 years
Infectious Diseases - 2 years
Nephrology - 2 years
Pulmonology - 2-3 years
Rheumatology - 2 years
Obstetrics/Gynecology - 4 years
Infertility
General Surgery - 5-6 years
Critical Care - 2 years
Pediatric Surgery - 2 years
Thoracic Surgery - 2-3 years
Transplant Surgery - 2-3 years
Trauma - 2 years
Vascular Surgery - 2 years
Colon and Rectal Surgery - 2 years
Urology - 5 years
Pediatric Urology - 1-2 years
Psychiatry - 4 years
Child Psychiatry - 3 years
Forensic Psychiatry - 2-3 years
Neurosurgery - 6 years
Pediatric Neurosurgery - 1-2 years
Physical Medicine - 3 years
Pediatric Physical Medicine - 2 years
Radiology - 4 years
CT - 1 year
MRI - 1-2 years
Ultrasound - 1 year
Interventional - 1-2 years
Neuroradiology - 1-2 years
Breast - 1 year
Chest - 1 year
Musculoskeletal - 1 year
Pediatric - 1-2 years
Nuclear Medicine - 1-2 years
Orthopedic Surgery - 5 years
Hand - 2 years
Spine - 2 years
Hip - 2 years
Foot and Ankle - 2 years
Anesthesiology - 4 years
Critical Care - 2 years
Pediatric Anesthesiology - 2 years
Pathology - 5 years
Forensics Pathology - 2 years
Aerospace Medicine - 2 years
Pediatrics - 3 years
Allergy and Immunology - 2 years
Behavioral and Developmental - 2 years
Cardiology - 2 years
Critical Care - 2 years
Endocrinology - 2 years
Gastroenterology - 2 years
Genetics - 2 years
Hematology and Oncology - 2 years
Infectious Diseases - 2 years
Neonatology - 2 years
Nephrology - 2 years
Pulmonology - 2 years
Rheumatology - 2 years
Continuing Medical Education
Most states require a minimum of 25-50 hours of continuing medical education credits each year. In addition, most physicians regularly read 2-3 medical journals each month and attend hospital Grand Rounds lectures and other training and certification courses for new procedures, therapies, and regulations.
Specialty Board Certification
To be certain you and your family and loved ones receive the best medical care available, you may want to check to see if your doctor is board certified in his or her specialty. To do this, you may contact any of these groups:
At the American Board of Medical Specialties you can check on your doctor's credentials or you can call the ABMS at (866) ASK-ABMS.
Contact the American Osteopathic Board of Medical Examiners at (800) 621-1773.
Contact your state's medical licensing board.
Call the American Medical Association at (800) 621-8335.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is an organization of 24 approved medical specialty boards. The ABMS serves to coordinate the activities of its Member Boards and to provide information to the public, the government, the profession, and its members concerning issues involving specialization and certification of medical specialists.
For More Information
American Board of Medical Specialties1007 Church St, Suite 404Evanston, IL 60201-5913Phone Verification (866) ASK-ABMS
Synonyms and Keywords
doctors: specialties and training, medical school, internship, residency training, fellowship training, doctor, physician, becoming a physician, becoming a doctor, medical doctorate, MD, allopathic, osteopathic, doctorate in osteopathic medicine, DO, allopathic school, osteopathic school, medical specialty, AmericanBoard of Medical Specialties, ABMS, medical education credits
References
1. American Board of Medical Specialties. What is the ABMS?. What is the ABMS?.
2. Plantz SH, Lorenzo NY, Cole JA. Getting Into Medical School Today. 4th ed. Arco; 1998.
Authors and Editors
Author: Scott H Plantz, MD, FAAEM, Research Director, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.Editors: Joseph A Salomone III, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Truman Medical Center, University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Medicine; Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine; James S Cohen, MD, Consulting Staff, James Cohen, PC.
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