Degrees and programs

Follow these guidelines when writing about program milestone, degrees and degree holders

Doctor of Medicine Program

The Doctor of Medicine Program, sometimes called the MD Program.

MD degree

MD is the abbreviation for the Doctor of Medicine degree. Do not use periods. The academic medical degree conferred upon graduation from the College of Medicine. (From the Latin Medicinae Doctor meaning “Teacher of Medicine”)

MD curriculum phases

The four-year MD Curriculum has 3 phases. Authors should avoid using M1, M2, M3 when writing about these phases because it is not immediately clear to all audiences what these refer to. Instead, refer to them as phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3.

Please note that:

Phase 1 includes both year 1 and year 2
Phase 2 includes year 3
Phase 3 includes year 4

When talking about students, refer to them by the year they are in. For example:

Jane Smith is a first-year medical student.

Masters and doctoral

Don't use an apostrophe when talking about a degree. For example, it is Master of Science not Master's of Science.

You should, however, use master’s when referring to the degree in shortened form.

For all degree acronyms, avoid using periods. For example:

It is MS not M.S.
It is PhD not Ph.D.

Residency and fellowship

Avoid referring to the phases of residency as:

Post-graduate years
PGY-1, PGY-2, etc...

Instead, use first year of residency, second year of residency, etc. or Class of 2025, Class of 2026, etc.

Residency

Residency training can range from an additional two years of education to seven years of training, depending on the specialty.

Resident physicians

a resident physician is a medical doctor (either an MD or DO) who practices medicine in a hospital or clinic under the direct supervision of an attending physician. When communicating with the public, “resident physician” is the preferred term.

When talking about the resident years, use either of these two options:

First-year resident, second-year resident, etc..
Class of 2025 resident, Class of 2026 resident, etc....

Fellowship

A fellowship is the period of medical training in the United States and Canada that a physician or dentist may undertake after completing a specialty training program (residency).

The use of GME and CME acronyms

GME stands for Graduate Medical Education and encompasses all residencies and fellowships. GME includes formal medical education pursued after receipt of the Doctor of Medicine degree, such as internship, residency, subspecialty and fellowship programs that lead to state licensure and board certification. In the first instance on a page, you should spell out the full phrase. You can also include GME in parenthesis like this:

Graduate Medical Education (GME)

All subsequent mentions can use the abbreviation.

CME stands for Continuing Medical Education and includes programs open to both internal staff and external professional learners. Follow the same guidelines for this acronym, spelling out the full phrase in the initial instance.