What Is Required to Become a Doctor?
The path to becoming a doctor is a long journey requiring detailed pre-planning and intense passion for the profession to ever truly succeed at it. Training to become a doctor takes many years of education and hands on experience. The graduation rate for medical students tends to be fairly high due to the caliber of students in these types of programs.
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Preparation
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The path to becoming a doctor can begin as early as high school. Those who prepare while still in secondary school can take advanced classes which will save time later in college as these topics will not need to be taught to the student. Furthermore, high school students may even get college credit for these classes allowing them a head start on their post secondary education.
Making the Choice
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Medical school is a very serious decision for any prospective student. The educational path to becoming a doctor takes at least eight years to complete and in some cases, depending on your specialty, upwards of fifteen years, including residency and fellowships. One should be absolutely certain of their career choice before accepting an invitation to study at medical school This is not only because of the time concerns, but also due to the major financial investment needed for tuition, living expenses while in medical school, and application and testing fees.
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Undergraduate School
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Though there is often no specific undergraduate degree required by medical schools, there are required topics of study that must be completed in undergraduate school. Most medical schools require that prospective student have a basic foundation in at least basic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, and bio-sciences. Students considering medical school should also consider taking undergraduate courses in physiology, anatomy, and any study relating to microbiology, histology, pathology, genetics, or pharmacology.
Medical School
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Medical school is very much like any other graduate school in that only the first two years is spent concentrating on class studies. After your first two years of studies, if not before, you will begin assisting and learning from teaching doctors who work in a campus-affiliated hospital. This period is often called a sub-internship and is required for starting in either your third or fourth year of medical school. During this time you will assist in diagnosing, treating, and maintaining real patients.
Residency
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Following your internship, you will be awarded a medical degree and be able to practice as a general practitioner under the supervision of a licensed physician. The purpose of residency is to hone a doctor's skill in one aspect of medicine. Medical school and internships present a broad range of knowledge and skills. Conversely, a residency helps a doctor specialize in one aspect of medicine such as Oncology, Parasitology, or Pediatrics. This residency period lasts anywhere from one to three years, depending on the specialty chosen.
Private Practice or Fellowships
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After your residency, you may become a practitioner of a specialty and even practice your art privately. However, this is not necessarily the end of the line for education. Fellowships are similar to residency and allow a doctor to specialize even further into their chosen field. For example, a general practitioner may decide to specialize in oncology and then further decide that they wish to specialize not just in cancer, but in brain cancer. The doctor would then seek out a fellowship involving the study and treatment of brain cancer. Fellowships can last anywhere from three to seven years or more.
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