How Becoming A Doctor Works. An inside look at obtaining a Medical Degree and becoming a practicing physician.

How Becoming A Doctor Works. An inside look at obtaining a Medical Degree and becoming a practicing physician.

To Be or Not To Be a Doctor? Three cornerstones of a successful career in medicine: 1. A love for learning in general. 2. A true intellectual curiosity about medicine in particular. 3. A strong desire to help others.

PROS (As Reported by the Pros Themselves!): Medicine is a career filled with choices. You can do research in whatever specialty you choose, with the potential to make a real breakthrough in preventing or treating illness. Medicine is a career that is honorable and is held in high esteem. Job security with excellent salaries.

CONS: Lots of education (costing lots of money) required. Long periods of unpaid internships. Large amount of money spent on insurance and malpractice. Long hours, being on call etc.

What kind of education do you need? It all starts in High School!! Get a good general education. (S.A.T. Test prep.) Take 4 years of science in high school, including biology, physics and chemistry, plus 4 years of math (including calculus).

COLLEGE There are no required majors for acceptance into medical school. The most common major is Biology! When choosing a college, remember that there is no perfect college. There is only what is right for you. (quality of faculty, facilities, advisors; percent of pre-meds accepted to medical school.)

Requirements for Medical School Here are the required courses for most medical schools: 1 year of Biology with lab 1 year of Inorganic Chemistry with lab 1 year of Organic Chemistry with lab 1 year of English Many schools require 1 year of calculus Some medical schools request a course in Biochemistry

MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) The M.C.A.T. (Medical College Admission Test) is an all-day, standardized, multiple-choice test administered by the American Association of Medical Colleges (A.A.M.C.) The M.C.A.T. is given twice per year (April and August) and in 1999 cost $165.

The MCAT has 4 sections 1. Biological Sciences (Biology and Organic Chemistry - 77 questions) 2. Physical Sciences (Physics and Inorganic Chemistry - 77 questions) 3. Verbal Reasoning (65 questions) 4. Essay Writing (2 essays).

Applying to Medical School In 1998 there were 41,000 applicants for 16,170 spots in traditional medical schools. There were 9,500 applicants for 2,500 spots in Osteopathic schools. The process generally involves a formal interview.

Medical School In 1998 there were 69,340 medical students in U.S. medical schools (57% males, 43% female). Medical school is very difficult If you can retain the information presented to you, not just memorize and forget, you will be highly successful. Most of the day is filled with lectures, labs and small group activities. The problem is not the difficulty of the subject material -- it is the volume.

The Good News... Over 95% of the students entering medical schools do end up earning their M.D. degree. By the time you get here, most medical schools consider you among the elite so no further weeding out is required!

Medical School Curriculum Generally the first two years are classroom-based, with patient contact beginning in the second year. The third and fourth years consist of rotations through the different major specialties of medicine.

1st Year Medical School Coursework Anatomy Physiology Histology Biochemistry Embryology Pathology Neuroanatomy Pharmacology

So what about your Grades? Many medical schools use a pass/fail system instead of the traditional letter system. This system tends to reduce competitiveness (quite high in medical students). It also encourages learning for learning's sake.

The Boards At the end of 2nd year all medical students take the first part of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE-1), administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).

The Match In your 4th year of medical school you must decide which field of medicine (specialty) to practice. Each medical field requires a residency (a training period -- sort of an apprenticeship) of 3 or more years. Every graduating medical student finds out the results on the same day in mid- March on "Match day".

Specialties Anesthesiology - 4 years Dermatology - 4 years Emergency Medicine - 3-4 years General Surgery - 5 years Internal Medicine - 3 years Neurology - 4 years Obstetrics and Gynecology - 4 years Pathology - 4 years Pediatrics - 3 years

Internship, Residency and Fellowship Residency is a 3+ year training program in a medical specialty. The first year of training after medical school is called internship. The training that is done after a residency (in a subspecialty) is usually called a fellowship. During your residency you will learn medicine by caring for patients with a variety of diseases.

Making the Rounds "Rounds" mean you walk around to each patient to discuss his or her care. Suggestions on further diagnostic tests and treatments are the usual topics of discussion. At the end of the day you "sign out" to the team that is "on call" that night. At home it is important to continue to read about medicine, especially at this point in your career. However, fatigue plays a big role and you often need recovery sleep from your night on call.

On Call Being on call while in residency means that you stay in the hospital over night and care for the patients on your team and the other teams, and care for the new admissions. This means you will be working up to 30-36 hours with little or no sleep. This is done every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th night depending on the institution and specialty you are in. This is a long-standing tradition in medicine. The argument goes that the more experience you have treating patients and their diseases the better you will be as a physician. Also, someone needs to care for patients after hours.

The Lowly Intern An intern is at the bottom of the food chain at a teaching hospital. Any unpleasant, menial task (called "scut" work) is the intern's job. Another medical tradition during internship is the phenomenon of "see one, do one, teach one". At this point you are finally being paid for your services. The mean salary for a first year resident in 1998-99 was $34,104. For each additional year of residency the mean salary increase was $1,451.

Medical License After completing a residency or fellowship, you must obtain a medical license so that you can practice medicine. Each state has its own individual rules. You need to have passed one of several exams to prove that you are competent (such as the USMLE). Letters of reference are usually required. A check of your malpractice history will also be obtained.

Board Certification Becoming a board certified physician in a specialty involves the completion of a residency in a given specialty You must then complete a comprehensive exam (often a written and oral exam). Many boards require recertification every 7-10 years.

The Real World Join a group practice or start your own private practice. Join a clinic. Join an H.M.O. Some physicians are hospital based (emergency physicians, radiologists, pathologists, anesthesiologists) but can be part of a private practice or an employee.