Specialty (medicine)

A medical specialty in the field of healthcare is a particular branch of medical practice that a physician focuses on during and after their residency. Specialization enables healthcare professionals to concentrate their skills and knowledge on specific areas of medicine, enhancing the quality of care delivered to patients.

Overview

Specialization in medicine emerged with advances in medical science and technology, leading to the evolution of distinct disciplines within medicine. Each specialty focuses on a unique area of patient care, disease management, types of diseases, age group, or method of treatment.

Postgraduate Medical Training

Upon completing medical school, graduates usually pursue further training in a particular specialty through a residency program. This stage of medical education involves supervised practice in a clinical setting, allowing physicians to gain experience and competence in their chosen field. The length of residency varies based on the specialty, generally ranging from three to seven years.

Types of Specialties

There are various specialties and sub-specialties in medicine. The American Board of Medical Specialties recognizes 24 broad specialty areas, including internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, radiology, pathology, psychiatry, and more. Each of these primary specialties may further encompass numerous sub-specialties. For instance, internal medicine includes subspecialties like cardiology, gastroenterology, and infectious diseases.

Role of Medical Specialists

Medical specialists play a critical role in healthcare delivery. They offer expert care to patients with complex health conditions that general practitioners may not handle. Often, these professionals engage in research and teaching in addition to patient care, contributing to the advancement of their respective fields.

Trends in Medical Specialization

Over the years, there's been an increasing trend toward medical specialization globally, reflecting advancements in medical knowledge and technology. This trend has implications for healthcare delivery, workforce planning, and medical education.

Specialties that are common world-wide

Specialty	Can be subspecialty of	Diagnostic (D) or therapeutic (T) specialty	Surgical (S) or internal medicine specialty (I)	Age range of patients	Organ-based (O) or technique-based (T)
Allergy and Immunology	Paediatrics or Internal medicine	Both	I	All	O
Anaesthetics	None	T	I or S	All	T
Pathology	None	D	Neither	All	T
Cardiology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Paediatric cardiology	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Cardiothoracic surgery	General surgery	T	S	Adults	O
Child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy	None	T	I	Paediatric	O
Clinical neurophysiology	Neurology	D	I	All	Both
Dermato-Venereology	None	T	I	All	O
Emergency Medicine	Anaesthetics	T & D	I	All	Both
Endocrinology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Gastroenterology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
General Practice	None	Both	Neither	All ages	Multidisciplinary
Geriatrics	Internal medicine	T	I	Geriatric	Multidisciplinary
Gynaecology and obstetrics	None	T	S	All	O
Health Informatics	None	T & D	Neither	All	Multidisciplinary
Infectious diseases	Internal medicine	T & D	I	Variable	Neither
Internal Medicine	None	T	I	Adults	Neither
Interventional Radiology	Radiology	T & D	Both	All	Multidisciplinary
Vascular medicine	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Microbiology	None	D	I	All	T
Nephrology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Neurology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Neurosurgery	Surgery	T	S	All	O
Nuclear medicine	None	D & T	I	All	T
Occupational medicine	None	T	I	Working age	Multidisciplinary
Ophthalmology	None	T	S	All	O
Orthopaedics	General surgery	T	S	All	O
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	Several	T	S	All	O
Otorhinolaryngology	None	T	S	All	O
Paediatrics	None	T	I	Paediatric	Neither
Paediatric allergology	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric endocrinology and diabetes	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric haematology and oncology	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric infectious diseases	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Neonatology	Paediatrics	T	I	Neonatal	Neither
Paediatric Nephrology	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric respiratory medicine	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric rheumatology	Paediatrics	T	I	Paediatric	O
Paediatric surgery	General Surgery	T	S	Paediatric	O
Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine	None	T	I	Adults	Multidisciplinary
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery	General surgery	T	S	All	O
Pneumology	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	O
Psychiatry	Internal medicine	T	I	Adults	T
Public Health	None	Neither	Neither	All	T
Radiology	None	D & T	I	All	T
Neuroradiology	Radiology	D & T	I	All	Both
Radiotherapy	(unknown)	T	Unknown	Unknown	T
General surgery	None	T	S	Variable	T
Urology	General surgery	T	S	All	O
Vascular surgery	General surgery	T	S	All	O

See Also

• List of medical specialties
• Residency (medicine)