Meaning & use
subspecialty
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Meanings
nouncountablemedicalspecialist
A narrower area of expertise within a larger professional field, especially in medicine.
Grammar: A normal countable noun: her subspecialty, two subspecialties.
Patterns
- a subspecialty of something
- a subspecialty in something
Pediatric cardiology is a subspecialty of cardiology.
Her subspecialty is treating heart rhythm problems.
After residency he trained for a subspecialty in cancer surgery.
nouncountable
A particular branch of any academic or skilled field that a person focuses on in detail.
Grammar: Used outside medicine with fields such as law, science or engineering.
Patterns
- a subspecialty within something
Patent law is a subspecialty within legal practice.
The professor's subspecialty is marine ecology.
Choosing a subspecialty early can shape your career.
Word forms
| plural | subspecialties |
|---|
Common combinations
- medical subspecialty
- Each medical subspecialty requires extra training.
- choose a subspecialty
- She chose a subspecialty during her fellowship.
- subspecialty training
- His subspecialty training took three years.
- subspecialty clinic
- The subspecialty clinic treats rare conditions.
- subspecialty of
- Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics.
Synonyms and how they differ
- specialty
- Specialty is the broader field, while subspecialty is a narrower part within it.
- niche
- Niche is informal and used in business, while subspecialty is a formal professional label.
- concentration
- Concentration is used in education for a main area of study and does not imply further qualifications.
- branch
- Branch means any division of a field and is less precise than subspecialty.
Opposites
Word family
- specialty noun
- a particular field of expertise
- specialist noun
- an expert in one area
- subspecialist noun
- a person with training in a subspecialty
- specialize verb
- to focus on one area
Commonly confused: subspecialty or subspecies?
subspecialty vs subspecies
A subspecies is a group within a biological species; it has nothing to do with professional fields.
Practice
After becoming a pediatrician, Dr. Lee trained in neonatology, a ___ that focuses on newborns.
Choose one answer.
A subspecialty is a narrower area within a field. A subspecies is biological, and subsidy and substitute have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subspecialty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.