Are Fellowships Required?

[Inquisitive Idiot]

Quick question (more hypothetical than anything else, so please don't start asking questions about who I am and where I am along the pre-med path)...

Are fellowships required after a residency?

Or are they just for people who wish to sub-specialize in something?

For example, let's say you go through a 3 year Dermatology residency.

Can you begin working as a fully licensed Dermatologist without going through a sub-specialty Fellowship?


Also, a bit of an esoteric question, but does anyone know if an American Dermatology fellowship is required for a person wanting to move to Ireland/EU area?

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[getdown]

Depends on the specialty. Some specialties, a fellowship is almost mandatory in order to get a job (radiology comes to mind). Others don't need it as much unless you like the area or want to go into academic medicine.

 

[Inquisitive Idiot]

Depends on the specialty. Some specialties, a fellowship is almost mandatory in order to get a job (radiology comes to mind). Others don't need it as much unless you like the area or want to go into academic medicine.

What about Dermatology specifically then?

e.g. Perhaps sort of a...

Person finishes residency as a General Dermatologist and starts working in a small town, referring more specialized problems such as Mohs surgery to a larger hospital in a larger town, etc?

Would that small-town dermatologist need a fellowship for a sub-specialty (or anything really)?

 

[getdown]

What about Dermatology specifically then?

e.g. Perhaps sort of a...

Person finishes residency as a General Dermatologist and starts working in a small town, referring more specialized problems such as Mohs surgery to a larger hospital in a larger town, etc?

Would that small-town dermatologist need a fellowship for a sub-specialty (or anything really)?

I don't know much about dermatology but if you're planning on doing Mohs Surgery or want to do dermatopathology than likely you'll need a fellowship. If you want to be a bread and butter small town dermatologist than probably can do without a fellowship.

At this point I wouldn't worry about getting a fellowship into one of the most competitive specialties in the business and worry about getting into medical school first. Unless you're trying to write another short story.

 

[Dwight Snoot]

Fellowships are by no means required for many specialties (emergency med, ENT, ophtho, fam med, IM, the list goes on). They are an option, by no means a requirement.

 

[Rocher]

Quick question (more hypothetical than anything else, so please don't start asking questions about who I am and where I am along the pre-med path)...

Are fellowships required after a residency?

Or are they just for people who wish to sub-specialize in something?

For example, let's say you go through a 3 year Dermatology residency.

Can you begin working as a fully licensed Dermatologist without going through a sub-specialty Fellowship?


Also, a bit of an esoteric question, but does anyone know if an American Dermatology fellowship is required for a person wanting to move to Ireland/EU area?

Most dermatologists are not fellowship trained, even at academic medical centers. It's a 4 year residency.

 

[NickNaylor]

As mentioned above, fellowship requirements vary widely by specialty/sub-specialty.

In psychiatry, fellowships are generally not required in order to do the work circumscribed by that fellowship. In other words, completing a geriatric psychiatry fellowship is not required to treat geriatric psychiatry patients. Similarly, you are generally not required to complete a consultation-liaison fellowship in order to perform C/L work as an attending. The primary exception to this in psychiatry is child/adolescent psychiatry, largely because the treatment and presentation of younger patients can be quite different than adult patients. Forensics is a bit of a middle ground; you can certainly find forensic work without completing a fellowship, but it is generally beneficial for finding work.

This is in contrast to, say, most IM fellowships, for which completing a fellowship is generally required in order to perform that work as an attending.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

In my field, 95% do a fellowship after residency.


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[Stagg737]

Fellowships are never "required" to practice any branch of medicine. They may be necessary to get certain jobs or learn certain aspects of the field, but legally you do not need them.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Are fellowships required after a residency?
No not at all. However for some fields (surgery, IM, path) it can be very limiting if you don’t do a fellowship.


Or are they just for people who wish to sub-specialize in something?
Again specially dependent. In EM for example, fellowships May decrease your earning potential and not really increase your employment prospects.


For example, let's say you go through a 3 year Dermatology residency. Can you begin working as a fully licensed Dermatologist without going through a sub-specialty Fellowship?
Yep, but if you want to do something like Mohs surgery you need additional training aka fellowship