I have no intention of becoming a medical doctor, but I've been wondering ... do doctors who open private practices need residencies under their belts? Do they need hospital experience? I say this because, obviously, private practitioners are paid much more and it'd seem odd if they didn't require residencies.
Pangolin
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Physicians need at least one year of residency to pass the Board exams required for licensure. Beyond that, it's not required.
However, most private practitioners need to have hospital privileges, and no hospital is going to grant privileges to an untrained physician. I imagine that malpractice insurance, if obtainable at all, would be prohibitively expensive. Hell, it's expensive enough for those of us who are fully trained and certified by our specialty boards.