{"id":18295,"date":"2022-01-03T14:50:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T14:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=18295"},"modified":"2022-01-03T20:53:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T20:53:33","slug":"what-happens-after-medical-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/mcat\/what-happens-after-medical-school\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens After Medical School?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once you receive your MD or DO, you throw your cap into the air, walk into the nearest hospital, and begin your hard-earned\u00a0career in medicine<\/a>, right?<\/p>\n

Well, not so fast. It turns out finishing medical school is just one milestone (albeit a very important one) in your\u00a0journey to becoming a physician<\/a>.
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Your career in medicine starts with \u201c<\/span>the match\u201d<\/span><\/h2>
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\nWhile those two words might not mean much to you now, they\u2019ll always be in the back of your mind as a medical student, especially as you get closer to graduation. After all,\u00a0the match will likely define your entire medical career.<\/p>\n

The match is the process by which applicants (MS4s) are\u00a0matched to residency programs<\/a>. At the beginning of the fourth year, residency applications open, schools receive them, and\u00a0medical school interviews<\/a>\u00a0are conducted.<\/p>\n

What differs from the\u00a0AMCAS application<\/a>, however, is that both the candidate and the school will rank each other on a list: The candidate will rank his or her\u00a0top residency choices<\/a>\u00a0and the school will rank their top candidate choices. A computer algorithm will then choose the optimal pairing for all the applicants and the assignments will be released on\u00a0Match Day\u00a0(February for DOs and March for MDs). Those who do not find a match will be notified and can participate in the post-match process, also known as the \u201cscramble,\u201d which, as\u00a0indelicate as it might sound, entails students scrambling for the remaining open residency spots that are available, whether or not they are in the specialty they originally wanted.
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Surviving Your Residency<\/h2>
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\nSo, you made it past the match. You\u2019ve graduated medical school. Now you\u2019re ready to coast into your career in medicine right? Think again.\u00a0You\u2019ve come a long way, but there\u2019s more responsibility on your shoulders now.
\nResidency is one of the most important aspects of your training as a physician. It\u2019s where you will learn to perform all the responsibilities and duties of your specialty. By the time you are finished, you should be ready to practice without supervision and lead your team in\u00a0taking care of patients.<\/p>\n

Residency training is grueling, to be sure, and you will be expected to perform at a high level consistently. During your\u00a0first year as a resident<\/a>, you will likely spend time among the different wards of a hospital to gain experience practicing different areas of medicine. In your next few years (which can range from two to four), you will gradually focus on your\u00a0medical specialties<\/a>\u00a0and subspecialties, eventually becoming experienced enough to require minimal supervision.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough road, but for many it\u2019ll be\u00a0the last step<\/a>\u00a0before launching into a well-earned career in medicine.
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Fellowships and Board Certification<\/h2>
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\nFor a few though, the road doesn\u2019t end there. Some areas of medicine are complex enough to require additional training after residency. These are generally called\u00a0fellowships<\/a>\u00a0and can range from one to three years in length.<\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019re interested in\u00a0a career in infectious diseases, you need to finish a residency in internal medicine (three years) and then complete a two-year fellowship in infectious diseases. If you fancy becoming a trauma surgeon, you would need to complete a general surgery residency first (five years) before going on to a trauma surgery fellowship (one to two years).<\/p>\n

Board certification<\/a>\u00a0is a different process than residency, fellowship, or medical licensing. There are board certifications for both MDs and\u00a0DOs<\/a>,\u00a0as well as most\u2014if not all\u2014specialties. Physicians can undergo this voluntary certifying procedure once they\u2019ve completed their training. The certifications consist of both a written and practical examination. Just remember, when you get there, Kaplan\u00a0has you covered\u00a0in studying for your boards<\/a>, as well.<\/p>\n

Keep this in mind when planning out your medical career: Your dream job may have you in for the long haul\u2014but only you decide it\u2019ll be worth it.
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Once you receive your MD or DO, you throw your cap into the air, walk into the nearest hospital, and begin your hard-earned\u00a0career in medicine, right? Well, not so fast. It turns out finishing medical school is just one milestone (albeit a very important one) in your\u00a0journey to becoming a physician. While those two words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[3,70,51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18295"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39861,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18295\/revisions\/39861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}