Specialty (medicine)

A specialty in medicine is a branch of medical science, other than general practice. After completing medical school, physicians or surgeons usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple year residency. Doctors who engage in a medical specialty are known as medical specialists.

Salary
The mean annual salary of a medical specialist is $175,011 in the US, and $272,000 for surgeons.

Although medical specialists in other countries on average make less than those in the U.S., they also go through fewer years of training, and most, if not all, of their educational tuition and living expenses are funded by the government during these years. In some countries (e.g., Austria, Netherlands), specialty pay as a percentage of GDP per capita actually exceeds the U.S.

Australia and New Zealand
Specialty training in Australia and New Zealand is overseen by the specialty colleges:
 * Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
 * Royal Australasian College of Physicians

Canada
Specialty training in Canada is overseen by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

United States
There are three agencies or organizations in the United States which collectively oversee physician board certification of allopathic and osteopathic physicians in the 26 approved medical specialties recognized in the United States. These organizations are the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Medical Association; the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABS) and the American Osteopathic Association; the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) and the American Association of Physician Specialists. Each of these agencies and their associated national medical organization functions as an umbrella for its various specialty academies, colleges and societies.

All boards of certification now require that physicians demonstrate, by examination, continuing mastery of the core knowledge and skills for their chosen specialty. Recertification varies by specialty between every 7 and every 10 years.

Medical specialties
In this table, medical specialties are organized into the following groups:
 * Surgical specialties - the use of manually operative and instrumental techniques to treat disorders.
 * Internal medicine - concerns the diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of diseases in adults, especially of internal organs.
 * Diagnostic specialties, rather examines disorders etc. than directly attempts to cure.
 * Neurology - focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with neurological disorders.

Other uses
In the U.S. Army, the term "medical specialist" refers to occupational therapists, physical therapists, dietitians and physician assistants, also known as allied health professionals.