Your Doctors Medical Education
The journey to become a medical doctor begins long before a student starts his or her formal medical education. Medical schools are extremely competitive in the United States. Therefore, they accept only students with excellent college grades and medical college admission test (MCAT) scores. The competitiveness of the college or university that the student attends also matters. Therefore, a student should begin to position himself or herself for medical school while still in high school so that he or she can attend the best college possible and get into medical school to become a doctor.
High School
It is true that not every doctor knows that he or she wants to practice medicine when entering high school at age 14 or 15. However, the people who go on to be eligible for a medical education often took high school seriously. They challenged themselves with high level honors or AP classes and they took advantage of difficult math and science course offerings.
Their hard work and focus in high school often positions these students to get into some of the best colleges and universities in the country. For students who want to become doctors, the name of the school matters. While not every doctor has an Ivy League undergraduate degree it is certainly easier to get into medical school from a good college.
College
Students need to take college as seriously as they took high school. The best way for students to position themselves for medical school is to study in the pre-med program at their undergraduate institution. Students who study in pre-med programs make sure that they take all of the required courses to get into medical school. They also receive valuable advice about the MCAT, medical school applications and extracurricular activities that look good on a medical school application. Further, the pre-med curriculum inevitably weeds out some students who thought they wanted to become doctors but who end up not enjoying or excelling at the study of medicine.
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
Almost all medical schools require applicants to take the MCAT and submit their scores. The MCAT is analogous to the SAT for college admissions. The MCAT is a standardized multiple choice exam that tests applicants knowledge of scientific concepts and principles as well as their critical reasoning, writing and problem solving skills.
MCAT scores are broken down into 4 subcategories that are reported to medical schools. Those categories include: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences and a Writing Sample.
Medical School
In order to be admitted into a United States medical school, most medical schools require applicants to have a 4 year bachelors degree and to take the MCAT. Many schools also require that students have taken specific science classes during their undergraduate career and that they present letters of recommendations during the application process. Any other higher education degrees, such as a masters degree, are looked upon favorably.
Once a student is accepted to medical school, the student begins a 4 year program to earn his or her Doctor of Medicine degree. The 4 year program is divided into the preclinical and clinical components. The preclinical component is conducted during the first two years of the program and consists of mostly classroom and laboratory work. Once students successfully complete the preclinical phase, they usually take phase 1 of their medical licensing board exams.
The clinical component takes place during the last two years of medical school and is usually done by working in a teaching hospital or with a community doctor. Students begin to provide medical care for patients under the supervision of licensed doctors. During the last year of medical school students usually take phase 2 of their medical licensing board exams.
Once the student has successfully completed the four years of medical school, he or she has earned a medical degree but must still complete a one year internship and pass phase 3 of the medical licensing board exam before practicing medicine.
Residency
Medical specialties require students to complete a residency before practicing medicine in that area. Residencies are typically 2-8 years in length. Residents work under the supervision of licensed doctors and earn a modest income.
Continuing Education
After successfully completing high school, college, medical school, internship, residency and passing the board exams, a person will have earned his or her medical license. However, medicine is a field that requires post graduate medical education so that doctors can stay up to date on developments in their field. Many doctors chose to complete continuing medical education requirements with online continuing medical education courses.
It is very hard to become a doctor in the United States and for good reason, our health depends on the skill of our physicians. Therefore, medical education is extremely important.
