What Are the Different Types of Medical Fellowships?

There are many different types of medical fellowships for new doctors to complete their specialized training. Dermatology and immunology fellowships are some very common types available. Additionally, critical care medicine and gastroenterology fellowships are also very common types of medical fellowship programs for those beginning their medical career.

Dermatology is one of the types of medical fellowships available for medical school graduates. The purpose of a dermatology fellowship is to provide hands-on training for new doctors while they are supervised by experienced doctors. There are many specialties within the field of dermatology to choose from, including oncology, pediatric dermatology, and procedural dermatology. The length of the fellowship programs and prerequisites required depend on the specialty chosen as well as the hospital's policies. Dermatology is a popular choice for doctors because the hours are generally much less demanding than most other specialties.

Immunology is another one of the medical fellowships offered by most post graduate medical programs. The purpose of an immunology fellowship is to allow new doctors to start practicing as attending and consulting physicians while receiving supervision and support from experience immunologists. An immunology fellowship is generally followed by a residency program and typically lasts more than a year. Specific requirements are determined by the hospital offering the program.

Critical care medicine is yet another one of the medical fellowships for medical graduates to choose from. A critical care, or intensive care, fellowship involves training in life support instrumentation and monitoring of patients who are critically ill. There are many conditions that may bring a patient to a critical care doctor, so thorough knowledge of symptoms and organ, respiratory, or cardiac support are necessary. Again here, experienced doctors who have completed their residency and fellowship programs serve as supervisors and mentors to the fellows. The hours of critical care doctors are some of the most demanding in the medical field due to the urgent nature of the care.

Gastroenterology is another type of medical fellowship, providing training for new doctors who have completed or nearly completed their residency programs. This field of study is concerned with the healthy function of the digestive system as well as its disorders. The word astroenterology comes from a combination of the Greek words gaster, meaning stomach, enteron, meaning intestine, and logos, meaning reason and is a specialized field within internal medicine. This type of fellowship also has a very demanding schedule due to the broad scope of disorders it covers.