High School

The physician is required to devote many years to study before being admitted to practice. Interested high school students should enroll in a college preparatory course, and take courses in English, languages, the humanities, social studies, and mathematics, in addition to courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. You should take advanced placement or honors classes and strive to achieve high grades, ideally graduating in the top of your class.

Postsecondary Training

You need to first earn a bachelor's degree from an accredited undergraduate institution. Some colleges offer a premedical course, but a good general education, with as many science courses as possible and a major in biology or chemistry is considered adequate preparation for the study of medicine. Courses should include physics, biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, English, mathematics, and the social sciences.

College students should begin to apply to medical schools early in their senior year, so it is advisable to begin your research into schools well before that and prepare to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). All medical colleges in the United States require this test for admission, and a student's MCAT score is one of the factors that is weighed in the decision to accept or reject any applicant. The examination covers four areas: verbal facility, quantitative ability, knowledge of the humanities and social sciences, and knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics.

You are encouraged to apply to at least several institutions to increase your chances of being accepted by one of them. Approximately one out of every two qualified applicants to medical schools is admitted each year. To facilitate this process, the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) will check, copy, and submit applications to the medical schools you specify.

In addition to the traditional medical schools, there are several schools of basic medical sciences that enroll medical students for the first two years (preclinical experience) of medical school. They offer a preclinical curriculum to students similar to that which is offered by a regular medical school. At the end of the two-year program, you can then apply to a four-year medical school for the final two years of instruction.

Although grades are a determining factor in admitting a student to a medical school, it is actually only one of the criteria considered. Admission is also determined by other factors, including an interview, emotional stability, integrity, reliability, resourcefulness, and a sense of service. Extracurricular activities and awards are a great way to display these traits.

During the first two years of medical school, studies include human anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, microbiology, pathology, medical ethics, and laws governing medicine. Most instruction in the first two years is given through classroom lectures, laboratories, seminars, independent research, and the reading of textbook material and other types of literature. You also learn to take medical histories, examine patients, and recognize symptoms.

During the last two years in medical school, you become actively involved in the treatment process. You spend a large proportion of the time in the hospital as part of a medical team headed by a teaching physician who specializes in a particular area. Others on the team may be interns or residents. You are closely supervised as you learn techniques such as how to take a patient's medical history, how to conduct a physical examination, how to work in the laboratory, how to make a diagnosis, and how to keep all the necessary records.

As you rotate from one medical specialty to another, you obtain a broad understanding of each field. You are assigned to duty in internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, and other specialties.

In addition to this hospital work, you continue to take course work. You are responsible for assigned studies and also for some independent study.

Most states require all medical school graduates (M.D. or D.O.) to complete at least one year of postgraduate training, and a few require an internship plus a one-year residency. If you decide to specialize, you will spend from three to seven years in advanced residency training plus another two or more years of practice in the specialty. (The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education offers a list of accredited post-M.D. medical training programs in the United States at its Web site, https://www.acgme.org.) Then you must pass a specialty board examination to become a board-certified physician. The residency years are stressful—residents often work 24-hour shifts and put in up to 80 hours per week while earning a relatively meager salary. Additionally, some physicians who are interested in practicing in a subspecialty, such as gastroenterology, a subspecialty of internal medicine and of pediatrics, participate in fellowships that last one to three years.

For a teaching or research career, you may also earn a master's degree or a Ph.D. in a biology or chemistry subfield, such as biochemistry or microbiology.

Certification or Licensing

After receiving the M.D. or O.D. degree, the new physician is required to take an examination to be licensed to practice. Every state requires such an examination. It is conducted through the board of medical examiners in each state. Some states have reciprocity agreements with other states so that a physician licensed in one state may be automatically licensed in another without being required to pass another examination. Find out about licensing procedures before planning to move.

Clinical training in medical college as well as your residency will provide the greatest practical experience before becoming a licensed physician. This is a profession where education is ongoing and success requires staying current on research.

If you work directly with patients you need to have great sensitivity to their needs. Interpersonal skills are important, even in isolated research laboratories, since you must work and communicate with other scientists. Physicians who open their own practice must have business skills and the ability to properly supervise other physicians.