To be a doctor

• Ever since I can remember, my dream job has always been to be a doctor. Being a doctor
is considered one of the most difficult careers to follow. It requires a lot of hard work,
consistency, and a lot of love for what you do.
• But, what actually takes to become a doctor?

To become a doctor is necessary to attend medical school, as we all know. This course lasts
six years and consists of practical and theoretical classes. These six years are divided into
two cycles of three years each: the basic cycle and the clinical cycle. The last year of the
course is the supervised internship. The internship is a preparatory and adaptive stage of
the student for the job market. During the internship the student has the opportunity to
interact with other doctors and health professionals, being able to learn more about the
practical area of their course. The internship is also very important because is the first
contact the medical students have with patients. To enter a medical specialty, the student
needs to complete the seventh year of the course, known as General Training Internship.
The Medical Internship takes place after the undergraduate/integrated master's degree in
Medicine and corresponds to a process of specialized, theoretical and practical medical
training, which aims to enable the doctor to exercise technically differentiated in the
respective area of specialization. Then, to actually become a doctor, the student must takes
the “Order exam”. That’s the final test to become a doctor.

• What does a doctor do on the daily bases?

The medical career can offer different possibilities of action. Doctors can work in the
consultation service (they see patients in their office and follow the patient's health history
with appointments); emergency room service (The emergency room doctor does not work
alone. A nursing team performs the first patient care, triages and assists in whatever is
necessary); urgent care and rescues (the doctor works with the rescue team. They
accompany the victim since the urgent call until the place where the victim is. When the
doctor is already with the patient or an accident victim, he provides first aid, administers
medication, bandages, immobilizes the patient and transfers him to a hospital, if necessary);
scientific research (they are dedicated to the search for new knowledge about diseases,
ways to treat and cure them. Research in the medical field is mainly carried out in
laboratories, where professionals carry out experiments and observe the behavior of cells
and structures of the human body.).

• How much can be a doctor’s salary?

In Portugal, the average salary of a doctor is 3510 euros. The base salary of a doctor can be
around 2750 euros, per month, and the maximum salary can exceed 5000 euros, per month.

Many people want to be doctors because it pays good money. But to actually become a
doctor, you need to work really hard, you need to be passionate about your job. Being a
doctor, in my opinion, is putting your career above anything in your life, because this job
requires a lot of time and attention. Besides the actual work, doctors also need to be making
researches constantly so they can keep up with the evolution of the scientific knowledge.

• Why do I want to become a doctor?

First of all, I think I am a really nice and loving person. I always pay attention to others and
how others feels and I have always been passionate about the functioning of the human
body and biology in general. But the most important part is that I love to help other people.
So, I thought I could put together my best trait and my biggest interest, and have my dream
job. For me, being a doctor it’s a very worthwhile and fulfilling job, because it’s all about
helping people to improve their lives and to help others get through rough times,
sometimes.