Medical internship

A medical intern is a term used in the United States for a physician in training who has completed medical school. An intern has a medical degree, but does not have a full license to practice medicine unsupervised. In other countries medical education generally ends with a period of practical training similar to internship, but the way the overall program of academic and practical medical training is structured differs in each case, as does the terminology used (see medical education and medical school for further details).

Australia
In Australia, medical graduates must complete one year in an accredited hospital post prior to receiving full registration; this year of conditional registration is known as the intern year.

Egypt
In Egypt, medical students graduate after 6 years of college as Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery. However, they must complete one year in a university or public hospital before receiving full registration; this year is the intern year, and is divided into Rotations in which interns are required to spend 1–2 months of training per department, according to a rotation schedule.

France
In France, medical students graduate after 6 years of medicine faculty, and then must complete an internship to become doctors. Medical internships are 3 years long (General Practitionner), or 4 or 5 years long (medicals or surgicals specialities).

Ghana
The housemanship (internship period) is a two (2) year period after medical students graduate during which newly qualified doctors practice under supervision in designated hospitals in the country. This involves six (6) month rotations each in Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics in no particular order. During this period the houseman (intern) is given provisional registration status with the Ghana Medical and Dental Council and would only be granted full registration status after successfully completing the housemanship. They then assume the rank of Medical Officer (M.O.).

Iran
In Iran, internship is an 18-month period at the end of the 5 1/2 year long medical education which should be done in one of the university hospitals. Then, medical students can graduate and work independently as a Medical Doctor (MD) or participate in National Comprehensive Residency Exam and continue to study in desired subspecialty. If they decide to work as a General Practitioner, they should first do their service for a period of 2 years in underserved areas recognized by Iranian Ministry of Health, as part of the commitments to the ministry. Medical Internship offers a schedule that rotates through all the major and minor specialties, including emergency medicine, family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, dermatology, ophtalmology, ENT, infectious diseases, and psychiatry.

Republic of Ireland
In order to register fully with the Irish Medical Council, graduates are required to complete twelve months of training in an approved public hospital. Internship comprises six months of medicine and six months of surgery. A minimum of two months and a maximum of three months may be spent in a sub-speciality, including emergency medicine, general practice, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry and perioperative medicine. Anaesthesia and radiology are not covered by the programme.

After completion of the internship, doctors obtain a certificate of satisfactory service which must be signed by the Dean of Medicine at the university from which the intern graduated. Upon receipt of the certificate, the Medical Council will entitle the provisionally registered doctor to apply for full registration in the General Register of Medical Practitioners, subject to payment of a fee.

Israel
In Israel, medical graduates must complete one year in an accredited hospital prior to receiving full registration; this year of conditional registration is known as the intern year.

Transitional and prelim
Some residencies start at the second year (PGY-2), including Anesthesia, Radiology, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, and Neurology. There are two kinds of internships outside the context of a "categorical" residency:
 * "Prelim" internships are done in either internal medicine or surgery. Interns spend 12 months focusing on either internal medicine or surgery.
 * "Transitional internships" or "traditional rotating internships", offer a schedule that rotates through all the major specialties, including emergency medicine, family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, and surgery.

Some applicants prefer transitional year programs because they generally are not as strenuous as a prelim year. However, a prelim year can provide better preparation for the second year of residency.

Sweden
The Swedish equivalent to an internship is the allmäntjänstgöring ("general practice"), which is a requirement for obtaining a medical license. Its duration is at least 18 months, but usually lasts a bit longer, around 2 years in most cases. After the allmäntjänstgöring, the student can complete a test to receive their medical license. Then follows specialisation practice ("specialisttjänstgöring"), the equivalent of residency.

South Africa
An Internship is a compulsory (statutory) requirement that recently qualified doctors who are registered with the HPCSA work in designated hospitals under medical supervision for two years. They may work independently within this context in specified medical disciplines and for periods of time designated by the HPCSA. They are employed by the institution and this option is generally only available to South Africans. Foreign qualified doctors that have recently qualified and do not have the required medical experience to register with the HPCSA may be requested by the HPCSA to do their internship in order to qualify for full registration. They either do this back in their country or in South Africa.

In South Africa, an elective for medical students is where a student arranges to visit a hospital for a short period (3 – 6 months) of time to gain experience in a different medical context,  where they will work under supervision and be mentored by experienced doctors. It is primarily a learning experience and they cannot work independently

United Kingdom
The British equivalent of an intern is a Foundation House Officer, although the title of Foundation Doctor is being encouraged in hospitals. The Foundation programme is a 2 year long training period in which competencies are developed and documented. It is one of the most innovative and rigorous models of training in the medical world.

United States
A medical internship typically lasts one year (a loose term) and usually begins July 1. Internships come in two variations, transitional and specialty track. After a physician has completed an internship and Step 3 of the USMLE or COMLEX-USA, he or she can practice general medicine. However, the majority of physicians complete a specialty track medical residency over two to seven years, depending on the specialty. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) officially dropped the term intern in 1975, instead referring to individuals in their first year of graduate medical education as residents. However, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) continues to require osteopathic physicians (D.O.'s) to complete an internship before residency.

In popular culture
In the first three seasons of the popular television drama Grey's Anatomy, five of the main characters, Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Isobel Stevens, Alex Karev, and George O'Malley were surgical interns at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, where the series takes place. Also currently in Season 5, series regular Lexie Grey is an Intern.

In the first season of Scrubs, JD and Elliot are medical interns, and Turk and Todd are surgical interns.

In Holby City Tom 'O' Dowd is a House Officer and Maddy Young was a Senior House Officer but is currently training to be a Registrar or equivilent Resident

In Dill Mill Gaye on channel Star One (Indian Television Program), all the main characters are interns at the Sanjeevani Hospital in Mumbai. The interns are Ridhima and Anjali Gupta, Armaan Malik, Atul Joshi, Muskaan Chadda, Rahul Garewal and Nikhita Malhotra. They are supervised by Dr. Shashank Gupta, Dr. Kirti Mehra and Dr. Shubhanakr.