How to Become a Doctor

Video Transcript

"To become a doctor involves a long and complicated process that requires a minimum of eleven years of study. The first step in becoming a physician is to go to a college or university and obtain a four year degree. Most premed students end up majoring in a in a science when they're at a university, but it's not required to go to medical school; however, there are certain science prerequisites that one must complete, even if you're in a non-science major. That would be a year of physical sciences, a year of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, and two years of biological sciences. That coursework provides the knowledge base for the admissions test to medical school. That test is called the Medical College Admissions Test, and is administered by the American Association of Medical Colleges, or the AAMC, which is the accrediting body for medical schools in the United States. It's a standardized test that you must take no matter what medical school you're applying to. All require the the MCAT, as it's called. Now, medical school entrance is very competitive. In 2007, there were 43,000 applicants to medical school, and only 17,000 were admitted, so it is quite a competitive process. Which means, to be a a a viable candidate for medical school, you have to maintain a very high GPA while you're doing your bachelor's coursework; 3.75 or higher, and you must score, test well on the MCAT. The next step in becoming a physician is the applications process. Again, there's a standardized applications process that most of the medical schools in the continental United States use. It's called AMCAS, and it is used I believe, by 121 of the 129 accredited colleges. There are, I guess it would be eight that have their own application system, and there is also a parallel system that's run by the American Association of Osteopathic Medical Colleges, and for the 25 osteopathic medical schools in the United States, you would apply through their service. Allopathic and osteopathic both end up in an M.D. degree, or a D.O. degree in the osteopath's case, but the practice of medicine is the same. Once you begin medical school, it's another four years of medical education. This is your formal medical training now. The first two years are typically reserved for didactic training in health sciences, and some component of practical healthcare. In fact, most schools are moving to getting the students into the clinics earlier and earlier, to give them that practical experience. After the first two years of your medical formal medical education, the student must pass the USMLE Step I, or the United States Medical Licensing Exam, and that test covers basic health science concepts, disease models, treatment models. Then, the second two years of medical school are really heavily invested in developing clinical knowledge and clinical skills. This is where you learn the healing arts. Medicine is often described as both a science and an art, and it absolutely is. Upon completing your four years of medical school then you have to pass the second part of the USMLE, and that ensures that you are competent in in your basic clinical knowledge and skills to practice basic medicine. So now you're eight years into your medical education, but that's just the beginning. Be before you can become a fully practicing physician, you have to complete what's called a residency program, and a residency program is a minimum of three years graduate medical education, and depending on your specialty, up to eight or more years of graduate mej, medical education. Up to this point, the course of study is fairly the same for all, fairly the same for all medical students. It's in the residency however, that physicians specialize in a particular area. So for instance, family medicine or pediatrics requires a three year residency program; whereas, a surgical specialty would require a minimum of five years graduate medical education. Upon completing your residency program you can sit for the state board exam where you want to practice, and then you can become an independent physician. Some doctors, at this point; however, choose to do some additional formal education called a fellowship, and if you are interested in a career in academic medicine or in a particular sub-specialty, then a fellowship would be recommended, and that could be another two or three years of formal training. So in total, to become a doctor requires dedication and eight to, or or eleven to sixteen, seventeen years of formal training."