After high school, we typically go to college/university for 4 yrs. Here you can concentrate/major in almost any subject you want - some people stick to sciences (biology, chem, etc.) and others may major in history, economics, etc. But to go to medical school after these 4 years, you must complete a year of each of the following: physics, bio, english, chem and organic chem. Usually, in your 3 or 4th year, you must take the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test i think), which is a nationwide test needed for entrance into medical school.
Then you apply to medical school, which is a 4 year program. The admission decision is based on your grades in college, MCAT scores, letters of recommendations, activities during college (volunteering in hospital, shadowing physicians, research). While your GPA and MCAT scores are
important, no magic number or hurdle for med school admissions.
The first 2 years of med school are generally classroom work with the second 2 years spent rotating through various fields of med at a hospital. You take a nationwide test after yr 2 and during yr 4 (called STEP I and STEP II).
At the end of these 4 years, you have graduated and are officially an MD, but still need to be trained in some area during your residency years. You apply to residency programs that you are interested in - internal medicine, anesth., neurology, etc. As you probably know, residency can last from 3 yrs to many more. If you want to be even more specialized, u can continue as a fellow (e.g., for non-invasive Cardiology, you would do 3 years of internal med and then another 2 years as a cardiology fellow).
