A fellowship is the period of medical training, in the United States and Canada, that a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial c ...

, or veterinarian may undertake after completing a specialty training program (residency). During this time (usually more than one year), the physician is known as a fellow. Fellows are capable of acting as an attending physician or a consultant physician in the specialist field in which they were trained, such as internal medicine or

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

. After completing a fellowship in the relevant sub-specialty, the physician is permitted to practice without direct supervision by other physicians in that sub-specialty, such as

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular h ...

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

United States

In the US, the majority of fellowships are accredited by the

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is the body responsible for accrediting all graduate medical training programs (i.e., internships, residencies, and fellowships, a.k.a. subspecialty programs) for physicians in the ...

("ACGME"). There are a few programs that are not accredited, yet are actually well received, given the importance of being a Board Certified Physician in a primary specialty, where a Fellowship is often more based on research productivity.

ACGME Fellowships

The following are organized based on specialty required for the fellowship.

Internal Medicine ''or'' Pediatrics

Adolescent Medicine Adolescent medicine also known as adolescent and young adult medicine is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. This period begins at puberty and lasts until growth has stopped, a ...

* Allergy/

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see ther ...

Cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular h ...

Child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

(

only) *

Critical care medicine Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

Emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the Medical specialty, medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or Injury, injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuous ...

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

Hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

Infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

* Neonatology (

only) *

Nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function ( ...

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

Pulmonology Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Ancient Greek, Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a specialty (medicine), medical specialty that deals with Respir ...

Rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

General Surgery

* Complex General Surgical Oncology * Hand Surgery *

Pediatric Surgery Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. History Pediatric surgery arose in the middle of the 1879 century as the surgical care of birth defects requ ...

* Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care * Vascular Surgery * Colon and Rectal Surgery * Thoracic Surgery * Hospice and palliative medicine * Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Non-ACGME Accredited Fellowships: * Abdominal Transplant Surgery * Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery * Advanced Gastrointestinal, Minimally Invasive, Foregut, and Bariatric Surgery * Breast Surgery * Endocrine Surgery

Neurology

* Vascular Neurology * Endovascular Surgical Neuroradiology (Interventional Neurology, or Neurointerventional Radiology IR * Neurocritical Care * Clinical Neurophysiology * Neuroimmunology * Neuro-oncology * Neuro-ophthalmology * Geriatric Neurology * Headache Medicine * Sleep Medicine * Epilepsy * Neurohospitalist *Neurorehabilitation

ObGyn

* Gynecologic Oncology * Maternal Fetal Medicine * Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery * Reproductive Endocrinology * Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery¹ * Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology¹ ¹ Not officially recognized as a subspecialty by the American Board of Obstetrics/Gynecology or the American College of Obstetrics/Gynecologists.

Ophthalmology

* Cornea * Glaucoma * Medical retina * Neuro-ophthalmology * Oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery * Oncology * Pathology * Pediatric * Refractive * Uveitis * Vitreoretinal surgery

Psychiatry

* Addiction Medicine * Addiction Psychiatry * Brain Injury Medicine * Child and Adolescent Psychiatry * Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry * Forensic Psychiatry * Geriatric Psychiatry * Headache Medicine * Hospice and Palliative Medicine * Sleep Medicine

Urology

* Pediatric * Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery * Urologic Oncology * Endourology

Orthopaedic

* Hand * Sports Medicine * Pediatrics * Spine * Foot and Ankle * Joint replacement * Trauma * Oncology

Other

* Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery *

Hematopathology Hematopathology or hemopathology (both also spelled haem-, see spelling differences) is the study of diseases and disorders affecting and found in blood cells, their production, and any organs and tissues involved in hematopoiesis, such as bone m ...

* Cytopathology *

Traumatologist In medicine, traumatology (from Greek ''trauma'', meaning injury or wound) is the study of wounds and injuries caused by accidents or violence to a person, and the surgical therapy and repair of the damage. Traumatology is a branch of medicine. I ...

Clinical Informatics Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic ...

(multiple specialties) * Geriatrics * Hospice and Palliative Medicine *

Interventional Radiology Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound. IR performs b ...

Sleep medicine Sleep medicine is a medical specialty or subspecialty devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of sleep disturbances and disorders. From the middle of the 20th century, research has provided increasing knowledge and answered many questions about ...

(multiple specialties) * Sports medicine (multiple specialties) * Transplant hepatology

Requirements

In general, ACGME accredited programs require completion of ACGME-accredited, RCPSC-accredited or CFPC- accredited residency program, however, exceptions for an ACGME-International- accredited residency programs and non-ACGME-accredited residency programs are possible. International medical graduates must be ECFMG certified. Some fellowship specialties require participation in special matching programs like Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®) or SF Match.

Combined fellowships

There are a number of programs offering a combined fellowship, training in two or more sub-specialties as part of a single program. * Pulmonary/Critical Care: this type of program is more common than Pulmonary Disease (non-combination) programs. As of 2007, there were 130 ACGME-accredited combined Pulmonary/Critical Care programs while only 25 programs for Pulmonary Disease alone. * Hematology/Oncology: as of 2005, there were 125 ACGME-accredited programs for Hematology-Oncology, while only 12 programs for Hematology alone and 18 for Oncology alone. * Geriatrics/Oncology: the American Board of Internal Medicine approved a 3-year combined fellowship training program in medical oncology and geriatrics. The John A. Hartford Foundation initially funded 10 institutions for this type of training.

References

External links

General Internal Medicine Fellowship Directory
from the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) {{Medical education in the United States Medical education in the United States Medical education in Canada