PGY
PGY, short for post-graduate year, refers to a North American numerical scheme denoting the progress of post-medical school graduation medical residents in their residency program. It is used to stratify responsibility in most training programs and to determine salary.
The length of residency depends mostly on the field a medical school graduate chooses to take. Specialties such as family medicine and internal medicine often require only three years, whereas surgery usually requires a minimum of five. Subspecialization (vascular or orthopedic spine surgery as a branch of surgery, for example) in any field will add time to post-graduate training.
For more information on specific medical residency programs, see the American Medical Association’s Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database.
Pharmacy residencies, which are becoming more popular, also use the PGY nomenclature. Here, PGY-1 is the usual general pharmacy practice residency, and PGY-2 can be completed, often as an option, for pharmacy specialties such as critical care, cardiology, oncology, etc.
In some teaching institutions, trainees are required to indicate level of training on all signatures (John Doe, M.D., PGY-1 or R-1).
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