What happens after med school?

[Mastashake]

Okay so I am trying to find out what exactly happens after a person graduates from med school.

I know you have to complete a residency, but I hear something about an internship before you can do that. What exactly is going on, and how do I go about finding out what exactly happens...

Mastashake

P.S. I Googled and Yahooed this, but could only find pre-med timelines...

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[nutmegs]

it depends on what specialty you're going into, but some things are similar.

the first year of residency is called the "internship year" or for some residencies the "transitional" or "preliminary" year. so for all intents and purposes the "internship" is lumped in with the residency, which is usually 3-5 years long total. after that if you want to sub-specialize (for instance, you've completed a residency in anesthesia and want to subspecialize in pediatric anesthesia) you complete a fellowship (the ones I know of are 1-2 years but may be different for the medicine subspecialties).

looking in the various residency forums might help you as I think most have stickies at the top with all the info about the residencies.

 

[Mastashake]

SUPER, thanks!

Okay, one last question...

Is the first year differently notated for a reason, like they don't pay you or something?

Mastashake

 

[Smurfette]

4 yrs med school
3-8 yrs residency (yr #1 equals the internship year/preliminary year/transitional year, depending on what specialty you are doing)

then you can
1. become an attending and practice on your own in your specialty,
2. fellowship--do additional training in a subspecialty for 1-3 years (varies by subspecialty), and then be an attending in your specialty/subspecialty,
or 3. do another residency (pure craziness) to be board certified in a second specialty.

This may be an oversimplification, but I think you'll get the idea.
The longer residencies and fellowships are usually the surgical fields, whereas the shorter ones are usually the internal medicine specialties.

 

[Smurfette]

the first year is called an internship for historical reasons mostly...interns are paid. It's just that they are newer and less experienced than basically everyone else.

Interns just have to do more time-consuming and 'annoying' tasks ("scutwork") that others don't want to do. They are usually the first ones called for any problem with a patient, regardless of how minor.

 

[pillowhead]

the first year is called an internship for historical reasons mostly...interns are paid. It's just that they are newer and less experienced than basically everyone else.

Interns just have to do more time-consuming and 'annoying' tasks ("scutwork") that others don't want to do. They are usually the first ones called for any problem with a patient, regardless of how minor.

after the intern year, you can legally practice medicine as a general practitioner in all 50 states. However practically speaking, this is no longer done and the only GPs you will find the United States are now very old. It would be impossible to get admitting privileges and malpractice insurance without completing a residency.

 

[thackl]

And then there is Path..... no intern yr

 

[Smurfette]

after the intern year, you can legally practice medicine as a general practitioner in all 50 states. However practically speaking, this is no longer done and the only GPs you will find the United States are now very old. It would be impossible to get admitting privileges and malpractice insurance without completing a residency.

That is not true...several states require more than one year of residency to qualify for a medical license. If you can't be fully licensed, you can't practice as a GP (not that anyone can be a GP now anyhow unless they were grandfathered in before recent laws and such. It may be doable in a few places, but very tough).

To the OP...until you qualify for a full medical license, interns/residents in training can get a "temporary" or "training" medical license. Once you pass the last step of the boards and complete the minimum years of residency required by your state, you can get a permanent medical license.

 

[Mutt]

And then there is Path..... no intern yr

As in no residency what-so-ever?

 

[thackl]

As in no residency what-so-ever?

Nope, you go straight to residency w/o an intern yr........ pretty cush hrs too as a resident (at least the ones I know)...... and the lowest hrs/wk nationally for MD's....... and an avg national salary between general surg and gas. Go figure

 

[bufer1]

what's a sub-internship (sub-I)?

 

[wends]

so do people usually stay with the hosp that they did their residencies at or can they move around to start their own practice?

boy, i didnt really knew what happened after we graduated either, so im glad someone asked this question!

 

[Emergency!]

so do people usually stay with the hosp that they did their residencies at or can they move around to start their own practice?

boy, i didnt really knew what happened after we graduated either, so im glad someone asked this question!

A lot of people do stay in at least the same general area that they did their residencies, but you can go wherever you can get a job after residency. Or, you can further specialize and do a fellowship.

Isersons's Getting into Residency: A Guide for Medical Students had been highly recommended on other threads. I plan on getting a copy before starting school in the fall. I guess it gives you a good idea of what you need to be doing when to apply for residency (which, btw, is pretty much the same $#%@ process as applying to medical school).

 

[Smurfette]

what's a sub-internship (sub-I)?

Generally, it is a med-4 who "acts as an intern" instead of as a student by having more responsibility for his/her assigned patients, writing orders, etc. Usually if there is a sub-I, the intern does not follow the patient so the sub-I can---the sub-I then usually reports on his/her patients directly to the senior resident and attending, as the intern does with his/her patients.

 

[njbmd]

Okay so I am trying to find out what exactly happens after a person graduates from med school.

I know you have to complete a residency, but I hear something about an internship before you can do that. What exactly is going on, and how do I go about finding out what exactly happens...

Mastashake

P.S. I Googled and Yahooed this, but could only find pre-med timelines...

Hi there,
Formerly, a graduate of medical school could complete one year of "internship" after medical school and become a general pracictioner. Gone are those days as are the days when "resident" meant that one LIVED in the hospital.

Todays terms are PGY-1, 2 etc which denote Post graduate year 1, 2 etc. Since most graduate elect to complete specialty training but are not living at the hospital, the term resident refers to anyone in specialty training. Pathology residents complete a PGY-1 year like other specialties and I am sure that the senior residents refer to PGY-1 pathology residents as interns.

All residency positions in the United States are paid.


nbjmd