The education and training requirements of a medical practitioner from starting medical school to completing specialist training typically takes between 9 years to 16 years (or more) assuming full-time study and work, and dependent on the specialty choice and satisfying in-training requirements. In Australia, it is most common for medical practitioners to follow either the General Practitioner or Specialist Consultant career and training pathways, with a small subset choosing not to attain fellowship qualification and continue their career as non-specialist Hospitalist clinicians. General Practice is recognised as a medical specialty with its own specialty college and specialty training program; it is akin to the scope of practice of Family Physicians in the United States or Canada.