Becoming a Doctor, From School to License

While not every child dreams of being a doctor, some do. It takes a lot to make that dream come true, from a dedicated college career to time spent in residency. Dedication and drive are important for a future doctor. The important thing is, the world will always need doctors.

The medical field is one of those fields that will always have career options and always be looking for talented, caring individuals.

While some will strive just for a family practice, another direction for the aspiring doctor to go towards is surgical, which requires even more dedication and schooling. If you want to be a doctor, you can help children, adults, and seniors. Use your first four years of college to decide where you want to go with your career as a doctor.

School

Education Portal points out that someone wishing to become a medical doctor must first earn a bachelor’s degree, in no specific major. This takes an average of four-years. It does help if you pick a major that relates to your career choice, however. That can include working towards a Bachelor of Science, maybe in something like biology.

Once you have your Bachelor degree it's time to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). This test will determine whether or not you are accepted into medical school.  Medical school is another four years of school.

There are different things to learn for different medical professions. You need to understand the human body and how it functions. You won't always have a textbook under your nose in order to help your patients, so it takes someone with a great ability to retain information.

Residency

After that minimum of eight years of school, it is time to do a residency in a hospital. You will need three- to seven-years of medical residency. Once you've completed residency it's time to take another test. For someone wanted to be a surgeon, there may be an added three more years of residency on top of the three to seven needed for a general medical doctor (MD).

It requires passing the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) in order to obtain a medical license.

Getting the Job

It may be wise to start looking for work while in residency. While some residencies may lead to a job at the same hospital where you train, it doesn't hurt to keep your options open. Look into staffing agencies that specialize in healthcare staffing.

There are numerous outlets available for job searching these days:

• Check the newspaper classifieds often.
• Use staffing agencies.
• Search online for jobs.
• Visit hospital websites.
• Look at local college websites for job listings.

Make sure to have a resume written up that shows your specialty. Include your education, residency and any internships you've done. Long periods of unemployment do not look good on a resume, especially for a doctor.

If your dream job doesn't come right away, keep looking. Talk to the people at your healthcare staffing center. They may have some tips for your job search that could be the answer to your problems.

This is a blog post by Nancy Evans