Specialty Programs with Dependent and Independent Subspecialties


Specialty Program:  A structured educational experience in a field of medical practice following completion of medical school and, in some cases, prerequisite basic clinical education designed to conform to the Program Requirements of a particular specialty; also known as ‘core’ programs.  ACGME considers allergy and immunology, colon and rectal surgery, medical genetics, plastic surgery and thoracic surgery as core specialties for purposes of administering accreditation policies and procedures.

Subspecialty Program: A subspecialty program is a structured educational experience following completion of a prerequisite specialty program in graduate medical education designed to conform to the Program Requirements of a particular subspecialty. Core specialty programs can have dependent, independent or no subspecialty programs associated with them.  ACGME considers allergy and immunology, colon and rectal surgery, medical genetics, plastic surgery and thoracic surgery as core specialties for purposes of administering accreditation policies and procedures.   Medical genetics can be either a 4 year program or a 2 year program following two or more years of other ACGME-accredited residency education.

Dependent Subspecialty Program: A program that is required to function in conjunction with an accredited specialty program, usually reviewed conjointly with the specialty program, usually sponsored by the same sponsoring institution, and geographically proximate. The continued accreditation of the subspecialty program is dependent on the specialty program maintaining its accreditation.

Independent Subspecialty Program: A program that is not directly related to, or dependent upon, the accreditation status of a specialty program.

Lists of ACGME-Accredited Specialties with Dependent, Independent and No subspecialty Programs (PDF)

List of ACGME-Accredited Specialties and Subspecialties (PDF)