Posted on Sunday, November 20, 2016 in General Health News
At Signature Medical Group, our doctors have traveled a long road to provide you with the best care. The entire process takes 11 to 15 years; four years of college, four years of medical school and three to five years of residency. Those accepted to a fellowship program will add another year or more of training in a specific field.
For example, if a hand surgeon wants to become more adept at his craft, he or she completes a fellowship to acquire more skills.
There are many areas of medicine in which doctors can complete a fellowship, ranging from fertility to sports medicine.
During the fellowship, which takes at least a year, the participant is called a fellow. Because fellows already have completed medical school — becoming a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine — and finished residency training, they are capable of serving as an attending doctor or consultant doctor in their chosen field.
After completing a fellowship, a doctor has such specialized training that he or she has the qualifications to provide you with the care you've come to expect from Signature Medical Group.
Fellowships have become more common in recent years and were not as prevalent until the last 20 years. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education is a nonprofit private council that evaluates and accredits residency and internship programs.