Initial Residency Period Law and Legal Definition
Initial residency period means the number of years that a resident who has entered in the first medical specialty takes to become a board eligible.
The term "initial residency period" is defined under 42 USCS § 1395ww (h)(5)(F), as the period of board eligibility, except that:
(i) except as provided in clause (ii), in no case shall the initial period of residency exceed an aggregate period of formal training of more than five years for any individual; and
(ii) a period, of not more than two years, during which an individual is in a geriatric residency or fellowship program or a preventive medicine residency or fellowship program which meets such criteria as the Secretary may establish, shall be treated as part of the initial residency period, but shall not be counted against any limitation on the initial residency period.
The initial residency period is set when a physician enters residency training program, and it does not change.
