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How many years of training to become a physician?
- Thread starter birdlady
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I believe it takes about 3 years for IM, FM, pediatrics, etc. And longer for surgical specialties, like 5 or 6 years for gen surg, plastics, ortho, etc.
I think, yes, US doctors are the most highly-trained in the world. For example, US trained doctors are allowed to practice medicine in almost any country in the world.
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well in Europe things are done differently...if you want to become a doctor right out of high school, you go straight to medical school instead of college first...many of the medical schools are 6 years so instead of the 8 years it takes only six but of course they don't take all the electives and random classes we take in college
Also I wouldn't say that doctors here are better trained compared to the rest of the world...saying that we can practice in other countries doesn't mean our doctors are better trained, the one huge advantage that doctors here have is the more advanced technology that they can use, but this also means that they are so much more depended on the machines for their work
Also I wouldn't say that doctors here are better trained compared to the rest of the world...saying that we can practice in other countries doesn't mean our doctors are better trained, the one huge advantage that doctors here have is the more advanced technology that they can use, but this also means that they are so much more depended on the machines for their work
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well so I have a very good knowledge of one school in Europe and their curriculum...what they do there is 1st year they study all the sciences and starting second year they start medical school subjects so in reality they spend 5 years covering medical school subject when we spend 4 years
just thought I would add this...
just thought I would add this...
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Three methods commonly used to calculate this:
Method 1 says 4 years... (this calculation includes ONLY MD/DO school ~150 weeks stretched into 4 years) As the MD/DO is awarded and a person is a Physician after this.
Method 2 says 8 years... (this calculation includes that bachelors degree in Art history or underwater basket weaving obtained BEFORE the ~150 weeks of MD/DO school stretched into 4 years)
As the MD/DO is awarded and a person is a Physician after this.
Method 3 says 11+years... (this calculation includes that bachelors degree in Art history or underwater basket weaving obtained BEFORE the ~150 weeks of MD/DO school stretched into 4 years and residency)
As the MD/DO was awarded after medschool and the person was officially a Physician after this.
I guess it really boils down to who you ask...
Lots of folks on here "minimize" the training and preparation of one profession while maximizing their own...
125+ undergrad credits (that includes pre-reqs) then MD/DO school = ~ 8 yrs to become a Physician...
125+ undergrad credits (that usually includes the same pre-reqs as above excluding tha MCAT) then PA school = ~ 6 years to become a Physician Assistant...
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NOPE..!!!
The original Question was:
You will be a Physician prior to RESIDENCY...😉
Typically 4+4=8
(9 years if you are concerned about getting a license and... therefore need to include the intern yr)
Also...
If you are highly motivated (some say "Gunner") then you may complete that Bachelors in 3 years... attend a 3 yr Med program = 6 yrs...
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bah, 6-year grads are too one-dimensional.
Who cares? <SARCASM>I'm sure your one semester of Greek philosophy will change your perspective on life and make you a better and well rounded healthcare provider.</SARCASM>
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they do something similar to residency, of course its not called residency there...i am not totally sure about the number of years for primary care residency
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I did a 4th year rotation in Australia back in February, and made friends with a couple of Brits and a host of Aussies. This probably doesn't capture all the nuance and detail of medical training, but probably is enough for this discussion.
European/Australian system is as follows:
6 years of med school, entered immediately after college.
Post Graduate Year - 1: Intern year (in Britain this is Foundations I) - Required year with rotations through 3 - 6 different specialties.
PGY-2: Resident year (Foundations II) - also required, continued rotation through different specialties.
The system in which they are matched to their programs is very different from the Match in the US, and is much more in favor of the top students. If you have a 99%ile rank, you get to choose where you go, and if you're at 73, you're top choices may be filled by those people better than you forcing you to your 2nd or 4th or 8th choice.
There are regional differences too, as one friend from Manchester only had to rank her hospital choices initially, then choose which sequence of rotations available at her destination. My friend in London was faced with a list of all the hospitals and their rotation sequences and told to put them in rank order (the list was some 800 options long). So she could have chosen Hospital A/sequence surg/ob/med/ortho, then put hospital B/sequence surg/ob/med/ortho, then back to hospital A: surg/peds/geriatrics/oncology...etc, etc.
My friends from Britain both got into programs where their Foundations I and II were at the same hospital for both years, though I'm pretty sure there are places where you'd only do 1 year then have to move.
One girl had a total of 8 specialties over the course of 2 years, which ran from geriatrics to orthopedic surgery to outpatient psychiatry. She explicitly avoided any tracks which required OB/GYN and pediatrics, though there were sequences that had those available.
Once you've finished Intern/Resident (Foundations I+II), I'm pretty sure you can be licesned and enter primary care. Essentially all their PCP's are family practice though. Pediatrics for example is not it's own primary care specialty, and are limited to hospital practice.
To specialize, one becomes a Registrar. This designation blurs the lines between resident and fellow in the US, but in function, most closely represents fellowship. You can become a Reg in things that are fellowships in the US (Cardiology, Oncology, Rheumatology, etc), but you can also become a Reg in things that are residencies in the US (Pediatrics, general surgery, radiology, anesthesia). You can even enter into things that we in the US would generally consider to require acquisition of precedeing skills right away - for example vascular surgery, pediatric critical care (PICU), or neuroradiology.
Where things start to get even weirder is that if you apply for a registrar program and don't get in, you can continue receiving one year appointments as a resident, and then reapply. The more years you accumulate, the higher you will be ranked on the list. For some competitive registrar positions (like in cardiology), people will work as many as 5-6 years before finally getting in. So what ends up blurring the lines even more, particularly for the things that we generally consider upper level fellowships requiring a lot of prior skill, you may have applicants who have just finished their Foundations II year competing with applicants who already finished a registrar program.
For example, Peds Critical Care programs may have some applicants directly out of FII, along side some who have already finished being a pediatrics registrar, and some who may have finished peds and anesthesia registrar programs.
So it's a very different method of training, and one which leaves a lot of flexibility in the time line to finally practicing on one's own.
