How to become a Medical Doctor (MD)


Become a Medical Doctor

There are five steps to become a medical doctor.

Image courtesy of https://study.com

Image courtesy of https://study.com

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

Most medical school applicants complete a bachelor’s degree program before they apply to medical school. Students can choose a variety of majors for undergraduate study; however, students should be sure that their course load includes a significant amount of science studies. Students are also expected to complete undergraduate work in the social sciences, English, and mathematics.

Here’s a success tip: take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). The MCAT performance scores are required by almost all U.S. medical schools. Content areas that are tested on the MCAT include biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. Anyone planning on applying to medical school can take the MCAT up to three times in a year.

Step 2: Complete Medical School

Medical school takes four years to complete. In the first two years, students take foundational coursework in the practice of medicine, bodily systems and diseases. During the last two years of medical school, students rotate through various hospital specialty departments and gain experience in patient care under faculty supervision. Students must also pass a series of examinations in their final year, which may include the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.

Step 3: Complete a Residency

Image courtesy of https://study.com

Image courtesy of https://study.com

Individuals choose residency programs based on their career interests. These programs usually last from three to eight years and cover general medical principles and specific medical specialties. Residents perform a variety of extensive duties, such as conducting physical exams, taking patient histories, attending conferences and interpreting lab information. The National Resident Matching Program uses individual preferences to match residency applicants to programs.

Step 4: Obtain Licensure

Before practicing medicine, all doctors must obtain a license. To qualify for licensure, candidates must earn a degree from an accredited medical school. Candidates are also required to complete a residency program and pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Each state has different requirements to become licensed; for example, some states may only give candidates a certain number of attempts to pass the USMLE, while others have no limit on USMLE attempts.

Course Work

There are several courses that are required for acceptance to medical school: two semesters of general chemistry, two semesters of general biology, two semesters of physics, and two semesters of organic chemistry.

In chemistry classes , the pre-med student learns about the structure, composition, properties, and reactive characteristics of substances at the atomic and molecular levels.

In biology classes, the pre-med student learns about the classification, physiology, chemistry, and interactions of all life.

In physics classes, the pre-med student learns about physical forces and its qualities: matter, energy, force, motion, and how the physical forces relate to each other.

In organic chemistry classes, students learn about living and synthetic carbon- based compounds. The science courses also include labs which would prepare the student for labs in medical school.

Additional Coursework

Other courses that are required for medical school are one semester of biochemistry, one year of college level math, and two semester of English composition. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical substances, processes, and reactions that occur in living organisms.

Some math classes that medical schools prefer are calculus and statistics. Calculus is used to find slopes of curves, rates of change, and volumes of curved figures. Calculus is useful to future doctors because doctors may need to analyze the amount of a drug in a patient’s system after giving the patient the drug by taking into account the rate of absorption and the rate at which the drug is metabolized and released from the system. Statistics is the branch of mathematics that deals with the analysis and interpretation of numerical data in terms of samples and populations.

Doctors use statistics to understand clinical guidelines and evidence summaries, explain levels of risk to their patients, evaluate medical marketing and advertising ideas, interpret the results of a screening test, read research publications for general professional awareness, and use research publications to explore non-standard treatment and management choices. Some programs will accept a computer science class as part of the math requirement. English composition classes help pre-med majors develop strong verbal reasoning and decent writing skills. Developing good verbal and writing skills help students do well on the MCAT verbal reasoning section.

Online Schools Offering Accredited Pre-Med Degree Programs

Hawaii On Line University offers all of the courses required for a PRE-MED degree in the sciences. All of our course work is based on true and observational science and not on conjecture such as the “evolution” of man or animals. All courses are in line with true science and geological studies that underline man’s creation and not millions of years of mindless “evolutionary” assumptions and empty theories.

Other universities also offer pre-med courses. However, you must be careful that such courses do not include unnecessary “evolutionary” classes or theories that will ad absolutely nothing to your knowledge of science and medicine, other than help you find the reality and the logical, sensible, fact that man was indeed intelligently made and not “evolved” regardless of the millions or billions of years of empty assumptions and mutations to “populations” or “natural selections” that erroneous theories attempt to teach you.

Many pre-med students either go straight from undergrad to medical school or later apply after a year of a post-bac pre-med program.

Other Online pre-med programs are:

  • Breyer State University
  • American International College of Arts and Sciences
  • Strayer University
  • Walden University
  • Hawaii On Line University

 

References

Doctor of Medicine: Steps to Become a Medical Doctor

How to Become a Medical Doctor

These are the five steps to become a medical doctor.

https://study.com/articles/Doctor_of_Medicine_Steps_to_Become_a_Medical_Doctor.html

On line universities that offer pre-med courses

https://www.onlinedegrees.org/degrees/pre-med/

https://study.com/articles/Online_Pre-Med_Colleges_How_to_Choose.html

Other Pre Med Resources

How to Become an Ophthalmologist Doctor

Ophthalmologist Degrees and Education Requirements