Exploring a Medical Career
Is medical career
right for me?
What kind of future appeals to you? Do you want
challenges, opportunities, a chance to make a difference? Do you
have an inquisitive mind? Are you interested in science and how
the body works? More questions to ask yourself:
- Do I care deeply about other people, their problems, and their
pain?
- Do I enjoy helping people with my skills and knowledge?
- Do I enjoy learning, gaining new understanding? Do I often dig
deeper into a subject than my teacher requires? Do I understand
the value of learning beyond just making good grades?
- Am I interested in how the human body functions? Am I intrigued
by the ways medicine can be used to improve life?
If you answered "Yes" to most of these questions, chances
are you have the right kind of personality for a medical career.
What does it take to become a doctor?
Becoming a doctor requires a serious educational commitment. It
takes from 11 to 16 years to complete your education, including
four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school,
and from three to eight years of residency training in a desired
specialty. Doctors also are required to maintain licensure and certification
and to undergo continuing education in order to keep up with advancements
in the field.
What is a doctor's career like?
Many bright and motivated college students describe
a "dream career" with the following characteristics:
- Service: Allows you to help people and advance knowledge.
- Action: Doesn't tie you to a desk all the time.
- Respect: Your work and contributions are an important part of
your community.
- Security: Enables you to earn a good living with a secure future.
- Mobility: Your skills and knowledge are in demand, wherever
you choose to live.
- Flexibility: Offers you lots of career options.
Few occupations meet all of these standards. None meets them better
than a career in medicine.
Doctors diagnose illnesses and treat people who suffer from injury
or disease. Their professional lives are filled with caring for
people, keeping up with advances in medicine, and working as a part
of a health care team. Every day in communities around the country,
doctors work in neighborhood clinics, hospitals, offices, even homeless
shelters and schools. Few fields offer a wider variety of opportunities.
About one-third of the nation's physicians are primary care
doctors who provide lifelong medical services for the entire family.
General internists, family physicians, and general pediatricians
are all considered primary care doctors. They are the first doctors
people consult for medical care. And they are trained to provide
the wide range of services children and adults need. When patients'
specific health needs require further treatment, primary care physicians
send them to see a specialist physician.
Specialist physicians differ from primary care physicians in that
they focus on treating a particular system or part of the body.
Surgeons who treat injuries, disease and deformities by performing
operative procedures, neurologists who treat disorders of the brain
and spinal cord, cardiologists who treat the heart and blood vessels,
and ophthalmologists who treat the eye are just a few examples of
the many specialties in medicine. These physicians work together
with primary care physicians to ensure that patients receive treatment
for specific medical problems as well as complete and comprehensive
care throughout life. For information about these and other medical
specialties visit Careers in
Medicine.
Physicians also do many other things. Physician researchers are
at work today developing new treatments for cancer, genetic
disorders, and infectious diseases like AIDS. Academic physicians
share their skills and wisdom by teaching medical students and residents.
Others work with health maintenance organizations, pharmaceutical
companies, medical device manufacturers, health insurance companies,
or in corporations directing health and safety programs. People
with medical skills are in demand everywhere.
How much do doctors make and how
many hours do they work?
Medicine has many rewards—personally, intellectually, and
financially. On average, doctors make about $160,000 a year, but
this amount can vary depending on where physicians live and what
type of medical specialty they practice.* As
the American health care system changes, fewer doctors are working
for themselves and more are joining health care systems, often as
salaried employees. In these organizations, physicians often can
command salaries comparable to executives in other occupations.
While salaries for physicians are among the highest for all occupations,
the work hours can be long and unpredictable. Many doctors work
more than 60 hours a week. They may also have to respond to emergencies
and be on call for their patients.
The employment outlook for doctors in nearly all specialties is
growing and bright. With the aging of the population, advances in
genetics research and technology, the need for physicians in rural
and inner city environments, and other important factors, the demand
for more doctors will continue to grow far into the future.
What is medical school really like?
I hear it's long and tough. How long? How tough?
Medical school is challenging for a reason: If you plan
to take responsibility for people's health and well-being, you've
got to be committed to learning. However, once you're accepted, your
medical school faculty and staff will do everything they can to
help you succeed. As a result, more than 96 percent of entering medical
students go on to obtain their M.D. degrees.
The curriculum at many medical schools has changed in recent years.
However, here's a quick overview of what you can expect during
four years of medical school.
During the first two years you will study the basic sciences—anatomy,
biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, pathology, and pharmacology—as
well as behaviorial sciences. You'll also begin learning the fundamental
techniques of taking a medical history and examining patients.
Next, you'll go into the hospital and various clinics to observe
and work with experienced doctors and begin to learn how to take
care of patients. At this time you'll begin to explore the wide
variety of career paths within medicine, such as family practice,
internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology,
and pediatrics.
Your final years are spent continuing your contact with patients
and doctors in a clinical setting while taking elective courses.
After medical school you will spend three to seven years in a residency,
where you will gain further experience and training in the specialty
you have chosen. You already may have an idea of which specialties
interest you; however, it's good to keep an open mind until your
third year of medical school.
Medical school usually lasts four years. In general, during the
first two years, you study the sciences basic to medicine: anatomy,
biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, pathology, and pharmacology,
as well as behavioral sciences; introductory patient interviewing
and examination techniques; and an introduction to health care.
In the third year, you gain experience with patients in hospital,
clinic, and office settings in the fields of internal medicine,
family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery,
and psychiatry. The fourth year is a mix of required and elective
courses where you gain additional experience caring for patients.
Each medical school differs in how it organizes its educational
program. The Medical School
Admission Requirements (MSAR™) has details.
Medical school is tough. A lot will be demanded of you both in
the volume of information you will be expected to master and the
rate at which you will be expected to learn. You will need good
study habits and time management skills as well as a strong academic
background. You also will need to be aware of and tap into the tremendous
support, guidance, and mentorship that medical school faculty and
staff provide to help you succeed. Medical schools are committed
to their students and their education. In general, more than 96
percent of all students enrolled succeed in earning their M.D. degree.
Toward the end of medical school you will choose a specialty; after
graduation you will spend at least three years in a graduate medical
education (residency) program. During that period you must obtain
a license to practice.
How long does it take to earn an M.D. degree?
Most would say a lifetime. Doctors are always learning as new discoveries
are made and new technologies develop.
However, it usually takes
four years after college to obtain the M.D. degree. After that,
you will choose a medical specialty and spend three years or more
as a resident physician in a teaching hospital, where you train
for certification in a specialty and will be paid on average about
$47,000 a year, to care for patients.
* Medical Group Management Association,
(2008) Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2008 Report
Based on 2007 Data. Englewood, Colo.: MGMA.
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