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A few things about becoming a doctor. What is the general schedule for becoming a doctor? <All the numbers in ( ) are respective recommended ages for your character to be during each step.> After completing college or university, 4 years of first, the prospective student goes to: (So basically 17-23) 4 years medical school: Years 1-2 consist of generally textbook-based learning in the basic medical sciences. (22-25) The 1st year of medical school consists of basic sciences, which educate you about normal body functions. Courses include: Anatomy - the science of
the structure of the body and the relations of its parts (especially
those that can be seen with the naked eye). This course is taught
by lecture and dissection of a human cadaver
In the 2nd year of medical more emphasis is placed on disease and its treatment. Courses in the 2nd year include: Pathology - the science of
disease, especially the changes in structure and function causing
or caused by disease During the 2nd year medical students also take courses that introduce them to taking a medical history and performing a physical exam.(22-25)
Years 3-4 consist of hands-on training/learning through many different areas of medicine; medicine, family practice, emergency, etc... (24-27) In the 3rd year, medical students begin rotating through each of the specialties of medicine, such as Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, etc.
In the 4th year more clinical rotations with a higher level of responsibility are completed, in addition to electives. 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. Residents are full-fledged doctors, depending on the specialty. Brain surgery is not done by 2nd year residents alone. (27-37)
Information about residency programs can be obtained from the book Directory of Graduate Medical Education Programs published by the AMA (www.ama-assn.org) or online through FREIDA online (Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database) at www.ama-assn.org/go/freida. After deciding which specialty to enter, you must decide which residency program you like, then go visit and interview there. This is where the "Match" comes in. Basically the Match is run by the National Resident Matching Program (a non-profit corporation). They conduct a sort of computer matching game. It works in the following way. After everyone has completed their interviews, the graduating medical student submits their list of residency programs in order of preference. At the same time, the residency programs rank the students that they prefer. The NRMP enters the info into a computer to match students and residency programs with their highest possible preference. Every graduating medical student finds out the results on the same day in mid-March on "Match day". You are committed to accept the position you have matched into. If you did not match into a residency you are informed a few days prior to match day. A list of unfilled positions is provided to the unmatched medical students so that they can participate in the Scramble (getting unmatched medical students into unfilled positions).
Here is a synopsis of different
medical specialties and subspecialties and the length of their training
programs (internship, residency, fellowship) after medical school:
Anesthesiology - 4 years Dermatology - 4 years Emergency Medicine - 3-4 years General Surgery - 5 years; Subspecialties of Surgery require an additional 1 to 4 years after the 5 year residency, they include: Vascular Surgery, Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery. Some surgical specialties require 1-2 years of General Surgery, then an additional 3-5 years of specialty training, they include: Neurosurgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, and Urology Internal Medicine - 3 years; subspecialties of Internal medicine require an additional 2-3 years after the 3 year residency, they include: Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Hematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Pulmonary, Rheumatology Neurology - 4 years Obstetrics and Gynecology - 4 years Pathology - 4 years Pediatrics - 3 years; subspecialties of Pediatrics require and additional 2-3 years after the 3 year residency, they include: Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Pediatric Critical Care, Neonatology, Pediatric Nephrology, Pediatric Pulmonology, Pediatric Rheumatology Psychiatry - 4 years Radiology - 4-5 years; subspecialties of Radiology require and additional 1-2 years after residency, they include: Neuroradiology, Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Pediatric Radiology
Some highly specialized fields require formal training beyond residency. Examples of these include cardiology, endocrinology, oncology after internal medicine; cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical oncology after general surgery. There are many others for each field of study. The training programs for these fields are known as fellowships and their participants are fellows to denote that they already have completed a residency and are Board Eligible or Board Certified in their basic specialty. Fellowships range in length from one to three years and are granted by application to the individual program or sub-specialty organizing board.
So basically it boils down to: 4 years of college |