What is a Fellowship?
A fellowship is a period of training that you undertake following completion of your residency, as a means to subspecialization. For instance, a general surgeon can do a number of different fellowships (e.g. cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery), a pediatrician can complete a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology, etc. The list of possible subspecialties is almost endless. A fellow is considered somewhere in the hierarchy between residents and faculty. They are paid like advanced residents, but nothing close to what a private physician makes. People take fellowships for a number of different reasons: The subspecialty may be what they’ve always wanted to do in the first place, they may develop an interest in that field along the way, and it’s often a path to a faculty position in a residency program and medical school. The length of fellowships also varies some, but usually lasts three years or less.
