<p>I realize that after Medical School you do a residency in the field you want to specialize in.</p>
<p>Can you pick the hospital you want to do your residency in?</p>
<p>How long are the average residencies? Are they longer for surgeons? </p>
<p>What are the shortest and longest residencies?</p>
<p>There is a match system which sends you to a specific residency, but it takes your (and the program’s) “rank list” into account – meaning that you well the computer your top choice, your second choice, etc. and the residencies do the same.</p>
<p>Residencies vary from three to seven years. Surgical specialties tend to be longer. Pediatrics, internal medicine, and (I think) family practice are three years. General surgery is five, but most major academic centers include two extra years of research for seven. Neurosurgery is seven. Many residencies are followed by fellowship, which are generally 1-3 years long. For example, pediatric cardiology is a 3 year pediatrics residency followed by a 3 year cardiology fellowship.</p>