Professional Documents
Culture Documents
If you know anyone who has studied to become a doctor, or if you watch TV shows that
take place in medical settings, you’ve probably heard terms like "intern," "resident," or
"attending." While they are all considered to be doctors, they have not all completed their
medical training. Knowing the differences among them will help you determine their experience
level, and whether they truly have enough experience to help you.
Here, an overview of the steps that need to be taken in order to become a doctor and a
"cheat sheet" to who's who.
1. Medical School
In order to become a doctor, a person must first complete a bachelor's degree. Then, he
must attend and complete four years of medical school.
The first two years of medical school are comprised mostly of classroom work, learning
the basics of anatomy, diseases and body functions. The second half of medical school is
comprised of clinical, hands-on patient work, usually in a teaching hospital or academic medical
center.1
Medical students rotate through various specialties such as surgery, pediatrics, or neurology to
learn about each field so they can decide which is of most interest to them. You’ll see them in
hospitals, but they haven’t finished their training, and they are not licensed, doctors.
Once a medical student finishes the four years of medical school, she graduates and adds
the MD (medical doctor) or DO (doctor of osteopathic medicine) to her name and becomes a
resident.
2. Residency
As students finish medical school, they apply for a "residency" program. Some medical
schools use the term intern to describe the first year of residency. Residency training is also the
time when new doctors begin to draw a paycheck for their work with patients. The name
"resident" comes from the fact that years ago, many residents lived in hospital-supplied housing
so they could be on call 24/7.
In some states, doctors are licensed to practice general medicine after finishing medical
school and a one-year residency-internship.
To become licensed as a specialist, these new doctors still have many more years of study
to go, depending on their chosen specialty. For example, to be a general internist, a doctor may
study for three more years. To be a neurologist may require six or seven more years.
Some highly specialized programs and sub-specialties, such as endocrinology or pediatric
cardiology, may require even more training. This is known as a fellowship.
3. Attending Physician
Once a doctor has completed his residency training and fellowship, if it's required for his
specialty, he'll be considered an "attending physician" and can practice medicine on his own. In
most states, this is when he'll receive his license. He may also choose to become board certified,
which means he has completed not just the education required, but certain forms of experience,
too.
Attending physicians who affiliate with teaching hospitals or academic medical centers
will also be put in charge of residents who are practicing their new skills.
5. Continuing Education
A doctor's education never ends. Post-residency, she’ll pursue continuing education
requirements so that she stays up to date in her field. She'll earn CMEs, continuing medical
education credits, that help her learn new advancements in her specialty field. Her certification
board will require a certain number of CMEs annually to allow her to keep that certification.