Residency (medicine)

Residency (medicine)

Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree (usually either a M.D., D.O. (US only), or MBBS, MBChB, BMed) who practices medicine under the supervision of fully licensed physicians, usually in a hospital or clinic. Residencies are also available, and may be required, for students graduating from pharmacy and physical therapy schools. In the US, the training of osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, dentists, and naturopathic physicians may also involve a residency period.

A residency may follow the internship year or include the internship year as the first year of residency. The residency can also be followed by a fellowship, during which the physician is trained in a sub-specialty. Successful completion of residency training is a requirement to practice medicine in many jurisdictions.

Whereas medical school teaches physicians a broad range of medical knowledge, basic clinical skills, and limited experience practicing medicine, medical residency gives in-depth training within a specific branch of medicine. A physician may choose a residency in anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, pediatrics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, radiology, radiation oncology, surgery, or other specialties.