Fellow (Medicine)

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In the North American system of medical education, a period of medical training following on from residency is generally called a fellowship. This refers to a period of several years during which the physician takes training in a subspecialty, such as cardiology or hematology/oncology. During this time, the physician is known as a fellow. Although their training is more advanced than that of residents, fellows usually continue to treat patients under the supervision of an attending physician - that is, one who has already completed a fellowship in the relevant subspecialty and is permitted to practice without direct supervision by other physicians. (Because they have completed their residencies, fellows may "moonlight" as attending physicians in the generalist field where they were trained, such as internal medicine or pediatrics, but they must be supervised by a fully trained attending when working in their subspecialty.) Most medical subspecialties have formalized fellowship programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).