Physicians and Surgeons –

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm

If by doctor you mean a doctorate degree (PhD), then you need a bachelor’s degree and in most cases a master’s degree (usually takes ~2-3 years depending on the program) before you can start a PhD program (usually takes about 4 years). Some PhD programs accept students with just their bachelor’s degrees.

That’s a lot of math, statistics, all the biology and chemistry you can take plus other solids and Art course.

Then it’s 4 years of Med School which is about 100 hours a week of work including on holidays.

You disect cadvers, take more biology, chemistry, microbiology, pharmachology, anatomy, physiology

You have to work on a group Medical Research program for two+ years and do an independt study that gets published (it’s usually a part of the group project in your speciality area)

YOu have to do clinic and hospital rounds learning with doctors and interns from staff members.

You have to pull on-call at least once every 6-8 weeks, which is Friday to Monday or Tuesday straight, sometimes over holidays like Christmas, New Years, Labor Day.

On-call is OJT training you every aspect of a hospital, clinic or Doctor.

You might do pre-screenings in the ER, works ups, lab work, on-call with a rounds team (surgery, orthopedics, internal medicine, cardiology) in which you look over the shoulders, wipe brows like nurses do, make phone calls, get the take out food for the team (it’s dutch treat). In short you’re dead meat and lucky of they let you hold a hook in the surgery room.

Then after you make it through this program with a DM or MD you have to find a hospital to INTERN in.

Interning is much the same as Med Schooling, except your a Doctor, but low man on the pole

You do the actual look at and treament in the ER at that point. You assist on rounds with specialties as hook holder in surgery, medication updater at 3 AM on Sunday, unless you have a Med School student you can sluff that off to and push them around.

In the typical ER there are many Interns doing front line treatments and a few REsidents doing on call who are you bosses (they have a license, you don’t).

So the Internal MEdicine or Surgical Resident or Cardiology REsident who is 3rd year, Senior Resident or Chief resident is basically RUNNING THE HOSPITAL nights and weekends and holidays and is in charge of the Interns and nurses.

This person will probably find a secure spot and watch TV or sleep and let the Interns do the work until they hit a problem and have enough guts to bother the Head Resident dude or dudette

After you finish one year of Internship you apply to take the test for a license in the state you plan to practise in or Resident in.

You can go to work at a clinic, hospital or employment service (on call provider) or associate with a private practise or buy one from a retiring doctor ($1 million) or go into advanced REsidency studies in a specialty field.

That’s another 3 years to 6 years but you get paid a Stipend of about $20-25K for room, food, transportation, phone.

Once you complete 4-6 years residency you can take a test for the Board in that speciality and if you pass it you get a Dipolma in that field (surgery, anthesia, internal medicine, cardiology, psychiatry, geriatrics, obstetrics, pediatrics)

A common Doctor makes from $120K a year to $180K a year on staff somewhere.

A Diplomate in a speciality makes $200K to $300K on staff, if you can find a job.

friend!