Specialty (medicine) - List of North American Medical Specialities and Others

List of North American Medical Specialities and Others

In this table, as in many healthcare arenas, medical specialties are organized into the following groups:

Surgical specialties focus on manually operative and instrumental techniques to treat disease.
Medical specialties that focus on the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of disease.
Diagnostic specialties focus more purely on diagnosis of disorders.

Specialty	Code	Group	Subspecialties	Focus
Allergy and Immunology				Allergic reactions, asthma, and the immune system
Anesthesiology	AN, PAN	Surgery	Pediatrics, Pain management, Intensive Care, Critical Care, Obstetrics and gynaecology, Cardiothoracic anesthesiology, Trauma Care, Pre- and Post-Operative Assessment and Care, Generalist (covers all the sub-specialties)	Anesthesia
Cardiology		Medicine		Disease of the cardiovascular system
Cardiovascular surgery		Surgery		The operation of heart and major blood vessels of the chest.
Clinical laboratory sciences		Diagnostic	Transfusion medicine is concerned with the transfusion of blood and blood component, including the maintenance of a "blood bank". Cellular pathology is concerned with diagnosis using samples from patients taken as tissues and cells using histology and cytology. Clinical chemistry is concerned with diagnosis by making biochemical analysis of blood, body fluids, and tissues. Hematology is concerned with diagnosis by looking at changes in the cellular composition of the blood and bone marrow as well as the coagulation system in the blood. Clinical microbiology is concerned with the in vitro diagnosis of diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Clinical immunology is concerned with disorders of the immune system and related body defenses. It also deals with diagnosis of allergy.	Application of diagnostic techniques in medical laboratories such as assays, microscope analysis.
Dermatology	D, DS	Medicine	Dermatopathology, Mohs Surgery	Skin and its appendages (hair, nails, sweat glands etc.).
Dietetics				Food and nutrition
Emergency medicine	EM	Medicine	Emergency Medical Services Hospice and palliative medicine Medical toxicology Pediatric emergency medicine Sports medicine Undersea and hyperbaric medicine	The initial management of emergent medical conditions, often in hospital emergency departments or the field.
Endocrinology		Medicine		The endocrine system (i.e., endocrine glands and hormones) and its diseases, including diabetes and thyroid diseases.
Family Medicine	FM	Medicine	Adolescent Medicine Geriatric Medicine Hospice and Palliative Medicine Sleep Medicine Sports Medicine	Continuing, comprehensive healthcare for the individual and family, integrating the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences to treat patients of all ages, sexes, organ systems, and diseases.
Forensic Medicine		Medicine
Gastroenterology	GI	Medicine		The alimentary tract
General surgery	GS	Surgery	Colorectal surgery Gastrointestinal surgery Transplant surgery Trauma surgery
Geriatrics	IMG	Medicine		Elderly patients
Gynecology				Female reproductive health
Hepatology		Medicine		The liver and biliary tract, usually a part of gastroenterology.
Infectious disease	ID	Medicine		Diseases caused by biological agents
Intensive care medicine		Medicine		Life support and management of critically ill patients, often in an ICU.
Medical research			Anatomy, Biochemistry, Embryology, Genetics, Pharmacology, Toxicology
Nephrology		Medicine		Kidney diseases
Neurology	N	Medicine	Behavioral Neurology Clinical Neurophysiology Geriatric Neurology Headache Medicine Neuromuscular Medicine Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Neuro-oncology Neuroradiology Vascular Neurology Hospice and Palliative Medicine Pain Medicine Sleep Medicine	Diseases involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems
Neurosurgery	NS	Surgery	Cerebrovascular Neurosurgical Oncology Stereotactic and Functional Spine Neurotrauma Skull Base Peripheral Nerve Pediatric Neurosurgery	Disease of the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and spinal column.
Obstetrics and gynecology	OB/GYN	Surgery	Maternal-fetal medicine Reproductive medicine Fertility medicine Gynecologic Oncology
Oncology	ON	Medicine	Radiation oncology – pertains to the use of radiation therapy (the medical use of ionizing radiation) as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells (not to be confused with radiology).	Cancer and other malignant diseases, often grouped with hematology.
Ophthalmology	OPH	Surgery	Retina, Cornea	Diseases of the visual pathways, including the eyes, brain, etc.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery	Maxfacs, OMS	Surgery	Oral and Craniofacial surgery (Head and neck) Facial cosmetic surgery Craniomaxillofacial trauma	Disease of the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.
Orthopedic surgery	ORS	Surgery	hand surgery, surgical sports medicine, adult reconstruction, spine surgery, foot and ankle, musculoskeletal oncology, orthopaedic trauma surgery, pediatric orthopedic surgery	Injury and disease of the musculoskeletal system.
Otorhinolaryngology, or ENT	ORL, ENT	Surgery	Head and neck, facial cosmetic surgery, Neurotology, Laryngology	Treatment of ear, nose, and throat disorders. The term head and neck surgery defines a closely related specialty that is concerned mainly with the surgical management of cancer of the same anatomical structures.
Palliative care	PLM	Medicine		A relatively modern branch of clinical medicine that deals with pain and symptom relief and emotional support in patients with terminal illnesses including cancer and heart failure.
Pathology	PTH	Diagnostic		Understanding disease through examination of molecules, cells, tissues and organs. The term encompasses both the medical specialty that uses tissues and body fluids to obtain clinically useful information and the related scientific study of disease processes.
Pediatrics	PD	Medicine	Children. Like internal medicine, pediatrics has many subspecialities for specific age ranges, organ systems, disease classes, and sites of care delivery. Most subspecialities of adult medicine have a pediatric equivalent such as pediatric cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric hematology, pediatric oncology, pediatric ophthalmology, and neonatology.	deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents (from newborn to age 16-21, depending on the country).
Pediatric surgery		Surgery	Treats a wide variety of thoracic and abdominal (and sometimes urologic) diseases of childhood.
Physical medicine and rehabilitation Or Physiatry	PM&R	Medicine		Concerned with functional improvement after injury, illness, or congenital disorders.
Plastic surgery	PS	Surgery	Cosmetic surgery Burn Microsurgery Hand surgery Craniofacial surgery	Elective cosmetic surgery as well as reconstructive surgery after traumatic or operative mutilation.
Podiatry	POD	Surgery	Forefoot surgery Midfoot surgery Rearfoot surgery Ankle surgery Soft tissue leg surgery	Elective podiatric surgery of the foot and ankle, lower limb diabetic wound and salvation, peripheral vascular disease limb preservation, lower limb mononeuropathy conditions.
Proctology	PRO	Medicine		(or Colorectal Surgery) Treats disease in the rectum, anus, and colon.
Psychiatry	P	Medicine	Child and adolescent psychiatry focuses on the care of children and adolescents with mental, emotional, and learning problems including ADHD, autism, and family conflicts. Geriatric psychiatry focuses on the care of elderly people with mental illnesses including dementias, post-stroke cognitive changes, and depression. Addiction psychiatry focuses on substance abuse and its treatment. Forensic psychiatry focuses on the interface of psychiatry and law. Neuropsychiatry focuses on affective, cognitive and behavioral disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system Sleep medicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Psychosomatic medicine Hospice and Palliative Medicine Pain medicine	The bio-psycho-social study of the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cognitive, perceptual, emotional and behavioral disorders. Related non-medical fields include psychotherapy and clinical psychology.
Pulmonology		Medicine		The lungs and respiratory system. Pulmonology is generally considered a branch of internal medicine, although it is closely related to intensive care medicine when dealing with patients requiring mechanical ventilation.
Radiology	R, DR	Diagnostic and Therapeutic	Interventional radiology is concerned with using expert imaging of the human body, usually via CT, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, or MRI to perform a breadth of intravascular procedures (angioplasty, arterial stenting, thrombolysis, uterine fibroid embolization), biopsies and minimally invasive oncologic procedures (radiofrequency and cryoablation of tumors & transarterial chemoembolization) Nuclear Medicine uses radioactive substances for in vivo and in vitro diagnosis either using imaging of the location of radioactive substances placed into a patient or using in vitro diagnostic tests utilizing radioactive substances.	The use of expertise in radiation in the context of medical imaging for diagnosis or image guided minimally invasive therapy. X-rays, etc.
Rheumatology	RHU	Medicine		Autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the joints and other organ systems, such as arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.
Stomatology			Dentistry	Diseases of the mouth
Surgical oncology	SO	Surgery		Curative and palliative surgical approaches to cancer treatment.
Thoracic surgery	TS	Surgery		Surgery of the organs of the thoracic cavity: the heart, lungs, and great vessels.
Transplant surgery	TTS	Surgery		Transplantation of organs from one body to another
Urgent Care Medicine	UCM	Medicine		Immediate medical care offering outpatient care for the treatment of acute and chronic illness and injury
Urology	U	Surgery		Urinary tracts of males and females, and the male reproductive system. It is often practiced together with andrology ("men's health").
Vascular surgery	VS	Surgery		The peripheral blood vessels – those outside of the chest (usually operated on by cardiovascular surgeons) and of the central nervous system (treated by neurosurgery)

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