Internal Medicine Education and Training

Becoming an Internal Medicine doctor

To become an Internist, one must complete the following education and training requirements:

Undergraduate education: Complete required pre-medical courses at an accredited undergraduate university and take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Most, but not all, medical school entrants have at least a Bachelor's degree upon entry to medical school.
Medical school: Four years of training at an accredited medical school (to obtain an M.D. degree) or osteopathic school (to obtain a D.O. degree). Training requires successful completion of science coursework and clinical experience, as well as medical licensing exams.
Residency training: Three years of training is required in internal medicine residency programs, followed by successful passage of the Internal Medicine board exams.
Optional fellowship training: Internists may remain specialized in general internal medicine, or may choose to complete a one to three year post-residency fellowship program (program length varies depending on specialty but generally range from 1-3 years) in one of the thirteen subspecialties of internal medicine.

For more information on medical education, including accredited programs, application requirements and procedures, medical student financial aid, and exam information, visit the Association of American Medical Colleges website.

See the American College of Physicians' Internal Medicine Residency database for information on U.S. Internal Medicine residency programs.

Continuing Medical Education

A majority of the states in the U.S. require physicians to complete a certain number of hours of Continuing Medical Education (CME) per year in order to maintain their medical license. These requirements vary by state, and the states provide criteria detailing what types of coursework, conferences or activities they will grant CME credit for.