Residents

Not that I knew of. Even GPs have to do a residency with a family practice.

while talking with one of the ER docs about which doc to follow up with for my niece ...they ran across one doc in the phone book that works with other pulmonologist (sp) and they know for a fact that he completed one year of internal residency then spent some time with a family practice then went on his own...so he is not board certified in anything but still is with a group of MD's.. So i guess you can.

After graduating med school, all physicians must complete a residency. The length of the residency can vary from 3-8 years, depending on what they are going into. Generally, internal medicine residents spend one year doing an internship, rotating to all of the different medical floors in the hospital. Then they spend a year rotating as a second year resident and supervise interns. After that, they can choose to specialize even further and do a fellowship in cardiology, anesthesia, pulmonology, etc... I assume that surgical residencies work the same way (I work on a medical floor so that's what I'm most familiar with). Being board certified means you pass a test in your speciality-- you can practice medicine without being "board certified", but not without completing a residency.

Yes

Med students earn their MD or DO, complete a one year internship, then go on into residency (varies in length from 3-7 years usually) Residency placements being obtained through med school grades, board scores, etc

I know that in Illinois - all MDs don't have to complete a residency, however, it makes insurance reimbursement difficult. At our university-teaching hospital, our ER residency is 3 years with the first year considered as internship.

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