I was checking out the AOA website looking at the specialties and sub-specialties available for D.O. training programs. I was under the impression Family Med was a total of 3 years, IM 3 years+1 for sub-specialty, and general Orthpedic Surgery 5 years just as examples.

The information on the AOA website was different from these numbers i.e. Family Med (4), IM (4), Ortho Surgery (3). Prefontaine said previously that the AOA was notorious for sending out wrong information. Are my numbers correct and theirs wrong? Or, did I misinterpret that page? What are the exact years of required residency.

Thanks for any input on this!

Pepper

You were right, in general.

As now I've been accepted to WUCOMP will go there next year, I would like to ask about nephrology specialty. Does it require 2 years after IM residency? I'm a little confused about the number of years for this specialty. As in previous message, only 1 year is needed to complete the subspecialty. However, my cousin, who is doing her residency in this field as an MD, said it takes 2 years.Any input is highly appreciated.

Most ACGME IM fellowships are 2 years. Some are three (cardio, hem/onc). Very few are one, eg sportsmedicine, geriatrics.

See the 'greenbook' for residency/fellowship requirements.

Moon;

Fellowships are started after completing your internal medicine residency. As far as I know there are no fellowships that are available before completion of residency. Some subspecialties are offered after a preliminary year (i.e.: first year of internal medicine training) such as neurology, radiology, and anesthesia.

Most fellowship are 2 to 3 years in length. The length of the fellowship varies primarily by how much research is required. For example, I'm applying for fellowship now and some programs require a year of reseach (the research year is usually funded by your grant). Some fellowships offer specialized training beyond fellowship, such as interventional cardiology after cardiology fellowship.