Medical Internship Training

Medical school graduates must complete an internship prior to residency.

Medical internship training consists of mentored practical study performed in a hospital, following a student's graduation from medical school and prior to the commencement of her medical residency. Internships culminate with an exam to determine if the medical school graduate can successfully practice general medicine unsupervised.

Purpose

A medical internship serves as a transitional training phase between medical school completion and hospital residency, and prepares a graduate for the demands of the medical profession. An internship exposes a graduate to issues commonly faced by physicians during routine medical practice, and ensures his diagnostic prowess, ability to make proper treatment decisions, and practical knowledge of medicine applied successfully to patients. After his internship, a medical school graduate becomes eligible for step 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), and receives a medical license upon satisfactory completion.

Duration

Internships typically last one year, beginning in late June or early July. If an intern decides to pursue a specialty, such as nuclear medicine or dermatology, the internship can run concurrent with her residency.

Title

In 1975, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) ceased using the title "intern," an has since used "resident" to identify both a physician during his residency and a medical school graduate prior to residency. The American Osteopathic Association (AOA), however, uses "intern" to identify students in graduate medical education prior to beginning an osteopathic specialty residency.

References

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education: Program Requirements for the Transitional Year
• Health Internship: An Overview
• American Medical Association: Becoming a Physician