How does residency work exactly?

Question

How does residency work exactly?

Answer 1

dr dredd is right.  You work long hours for little pay, and have to study on top of it.  It's like having 2 full time jobs and being in school at the same time.

In the US, most people get their residency spots through "the match", where a computer matches medical school grads with residency programs.  You apply and interview, and rank your preferences, the programs rank the applicants, and a computer does the rest.

Once you're done with residency, most specialties have Boards that administer nasty tests so that you can prove to your peers that you know what you're doing after all that training.

Answer 2

In the United States, medical school is 4 years, and after that someone can call themselves "Doctor."  However, in reality, they are in no way fully prepared to go out into the real world and practice medicine.  Med School is a great deal of book learning and only a small amount of practical experience in a lot of different specialties.

After graduating medical school, the real fun begins.  The resident chooses one branch of medicine to specialize in, and proceeds to spend the next several years of his/her life eating, breathing, and sleeping it.  The hours are long and the experience is intense, but this is to make sure that the newly minted doctor has the opportunity to practice under supervision before going out on his/her own.

I don't know how it works in other countries.