Synonyms
Medical specialties
Definition
Medical specializations are those specific fields of medicine where additional training and internship beyond medical school is required. They can be differentiated into non-surgical and surgical specialties. The medical specializations are reflected in the different wards of an inpatient setting or in specialized outpatient practices . In many health care systems, the patient first has to attend an appointment with a general practitioner who acts as a gatekeeper and – if necessary – refers the patient to the corresponding specialist.
Basic Characteristics
Background
According to the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) , the number of physicians in OECD countries has increased by 35% between 1990 and 2005, to 2.8 million. This increase was driven largely by a 50% growth of specialists in the same period, and they now make up more than 50% of all physicians in most of the OECD countries. This...
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References
Freeman B (2004) The Ultimate Guide To Choosing a Medical Specialty. McGraw-Hill, New York
MedicineNet.com (2003) Webster's New World Medical Dictionary, 2nd edn. Wiley & Sons, New York
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag
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Lenz, G. (2008). Medical Specializations . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2125
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2125
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5613-0
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