Sorry for the newbie question, but I never understood the difference.

I think they use "interns" for 1st yr residents and "resident" from 2nd yr of residency. Didn't make sense to me either.

Sorry for the newbie question, but I never understood the difference.

In the olden days, the first year after med school you served as and intern. "in"tern because you lived in the hospital. The years after you were a resident. Back then it was fairly common to do these a different hospitals. In esense, everybody did a transitional year internship after med school (rotate through departments just like 3rd year of med school). Now, most people match in a specialty and go straight through. Out of tradition, first year residents (as we are often called) are still known as interns.

Ed

Intern = scut monkey, Resident = scut monkey with more responsibility

The resident usually gets to hold the cigar.

No, that's president, not resident. Never mind.

Don't forget, the term "resident" originated from General Surgery house officers who used to literally live at the hospital (or an attached dorm in the back).

don't forget that in the rest of the world that doesn't practice the north american system of graduate medical education, an intern is very much different from a "registrar" or "house officer". nevertheless, the term is almost universally applied to anyone who has graduated recently from a medical school. in the uk, there are two years of internship, whereas in australia there is only one.

don't forget that in the rest of the world that doesn't practice the north american system of graduate medical education, an intern is very much different from a "registrar" or "house officer". nevertheless, the term is almost universally applied to anyone who has graduated recently from a medical school. in the uk, there are two years of internship, whereas in australia there is only one.

Yep, so in Australia
- an intern is pretty much the same as in the US (1st year out of medical school)
- a resident is a Dr who has finished internship & is waiting to get on a specialist training program
- a registrar is a Dr who has done between 2 & 4 yrs of resident work & has gotten a position on a specialist training program (eg ophthal, radiol, ortho etc)
- registrar training programs are 4-6 years & then at last you are finished!!!

Yep, so in Australia
- an intern is pretty much the same as in the US (1st year out of medical school)
- a resident is a Dr who has finished internship & is waiting to get on a specialist training program
- a registrar is a Dr who has done between 2 & 4 yrs of resident work & has gotten a position on a specialist training program (eg ophthal, radiol, ortho etc)
- registrar training programs are 4-6 years & then at last you are finished!!!

except:

1. an intern is a "rotating" intern and essentially goes through approx 10 weeks in ER, gen med, geriatrics, gen surg, medicine subspecialty, etc... whereas a north american intern is already "on a training program". many people outside north america view this as important "rounding off" of training and is used to levy criticism against the north american system of forcing specialization too early.
2. a registrar can be "unaccredited" - i know someone who is 7 years out of medical school (1 year internship, 2 years resident and 4 years as an unaccredited orthopaedic registrar) and if he doesn't get onto an accredited program next year, he's forever barred from pursuing graduate surgical education. it's a weird system.

I thought an intern is called as such because the pay is terrible. I was thinking of the high school student interning (volunteering) in a politician's office.

I look forward to being a 'tern some day :love: