Australia and New Zealand There are 15 recognised specialty medical Colleges in Australia. The majority of these are Australasian Colleges and therefore also oversee New Zealand specialist doctors. These Colleges are: The
Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons supervises training of specialist medical practitioners specializing in
oral and maxillofacial surgery in addition to its role in the training of
dentists. There are approximately 260 faciomaxillary surgeons in Australia. The
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners is a distinct body from the Australian
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. There are approximately 5100 members of the RNZCGP. Within some of the larger colleges, there are sub-faculties, such as: Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine within the
Royal Australasian College of Physicians. There are some collegiate bodies in Australia that are not officially recognised as specialties by the Australian Medical Council but have a college structure for members, such as: Australasian College of Physical Medicine There are some collegiate bodies in Australia of allied health non-medical practitioners with specialisation. They are not recognised as medical specialists, but can be treated as such by private health insurers, such as:
Australasian College of Podiatric Surgeons Canada Specialty training in Canada is overseen by the
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the
College of Family Physicians of Canada. For specialists working in the province of
Quebec, the
Collège des médecins du Québec also oversees the process.
Germany In Germany these doctors use the term
Facharzt.
India Specialty training in India is overseen by the
National Medical Commission (formerly
Medical Council of India), responsible for recognition of post graduate training and by the
National Board of Examinations. Education of
Ayurveda in overseen by
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), the council conducts UG and PG courses all over India, while
Central Council of Homoeopathy does the same in the field of Homeopathy. Specialization and superspecialization in medicine and surgery are pursued after completing
MBBS, for which higher medical (
MD, DM) and surgical (
MS, MCh) degrees are awarded. The following medical and surgical specialties and superspecialties are recognized by the
National Medical Commission (formerly
Medical Council of India) and
National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences: •
Aerospace medicine •
Allergy and
clinical immunology •
Anaesthesiology •
Anatomy •
Biochemistry •
Cardiac anaesthesia •
Cardiology •
Cardiovascular and thoracic surgery •
Child and adolescent psychiatry •
Clinical haematology •
Clinical immunology and
rheumatology •
Clinical pharmacology •
Critical care medicine •
Community medicine •
Dermatology,
venereology and
leprosy •
Emergency medicine •
Endocrine surgery •
Endocrinology •
Family medicine •
Forensic medicine and
toxicology •
General medicine •
General surgery •
Geriatrics •
Geriatric mental health •
Gynaecologic oncology •
Hand surgery •
Head and neck surgery •
Health administration •
Health education •
Hepatology •
Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery •
Hospital administration •
Immunohematology •
Infectious diseases •
Interventional radiology •
Laboratory medicine •
Marine medicine •
Maternal and child health •
Medical gastroenterology •
Medical genetics •
Medical oncology •
Microbiology •
Neonatology •
Nephrology •
Nuclear medicine •
Neuroanaesthesia •
Neurology •
Neuroradiology •
Neurosurgery •
Obstetrics and gynaecology •
Occupational health •
Oncopathology •
Ophthalmology •
Organ transplant anaesthesia and critical care •
Orthopaedics •
Otorhinolaryngology •
Palliative medicine •
Paediatric and neonatal anaesthesia •
Paediatric cardiology •
Paediatric cardiothoracic and vascular surgery •
Paediatric critical care •
Paediatric hepatology •
Paediatric gastroenterology •
Paediatric nephrology •
Paediatric neurology •
Paediatric oncology •
Paediatric orthopaedics •
Paediatric surgery •
Paediatrics •
Pathology •
Pharmacology •
Physical medicine and rehabilitation •
Physiology •
Plastic and
reconstructive surgery •
Psychiatry •
Pulmonary medicine •
Radiodiagnosis •
Radiotherapy •
Reproductive medicine and surgery •
Sports medicine •
Surgical gastroenterology •
Surgical oncology •
Thoracic surgery •
Traumatology and surgery •
Tropical medicine •
Urology •
Vascular surgery •
Virology Sweden In Sweden, a
medical license is required before commencing specialty training. Those graduating from Swedish
medical schools are first required to do a rotational
internship of about 1.5 to 2 years in various specialties before attaining a medical license. The specialist training lasts 5 years.
United States There are three agencies or organizations in the United States that collectively oversee
physician board certification of
MD and
DO physicians in the United States in the 26 approved medical specialties recognized in the country. These organizations are the
American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the
American Medical Association (AMA); the
American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABOS) and the
American Osteopathic Association; the
American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) and the
American Association of Physician Specialists (AAPS). Each of these agencies and their associated national medical organization functions as its various specialty academies, colleges and societies. All boards of certification now require that
medical practitioners demonstrate, by examination, continuing mastery of the core knowledge and skills for a chosen specialty. Recertification varies by particular specialty between every seven and every ten years. In the United States there are hierarchies of medical specialties in the cities of a region. Small towns and cities have primary care, middle sized cities offer secondary care, and metropolitan cities have tertiary care. Income, size of population, population demographics, distance to the doctor, all influence the numbers and kinds of specialists and physicians located in a city. ==Demography==