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.