Aspiring Docs

What is Medical School Like

• How long does it take to get a medical education, and what does it involve?
• What will I learn in medical school?
• What will I learn as a resident?

• How long does it take to get a medical education, and what does it involve?

  While a medical education involves continual learning throughout your career, there are five basic phases:

  1. Undergraduate Pre-medical Education (College) begins to prepare students for the academic and personal rigors of a medical education; provides the opportunity to obtain a solid foundation in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities; as well as helps students to learn the fundamental problem-solving and communication skills needed to be a doctor.
     
     
  2. Undergraduate Medical Education (Medical School) usually involves a four-year program of study, with the first two years focused on learning the basic sciences essential to medicine and the second two years consisting of a series of clinical rotations during which students work with patients and their families under the supervision of faculty physicians. Upon completing medical school, students are awarded their M.D. degree.
     
     
  3. Graduate Medical Education (Residency) is a three- to seven-year period when new M.D.s (residents) learn all aspects of patient care and prepare for independent practice in a medical specialty or subspecialty. Residents work with patients under the supervision of attending physicians.
     
     
  4. Licensure and Certification represent the fourth phase.  Licensure occurs through the medical licensing board in each state and involves, among other requirements, passing the three-step United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The first two exams take place during medical school, and the third takes place during the first year of residency.  Certification occurs through the medical specialty board for each specialty.  Requirements vary by specialty board.
     
     
  5. Continuing Medical Education (CME) refers to the career-long process of staying current with one's chosen medical specialty and maintaining clinical competence through CME courses and training.

• [top]

• What will I learn in medical school?

  What you will learn in medical school can be divided into two parts:

  Basic sciences. During your first two years of medical school, you'll learn about the basic sciences essential to an understanding of normal structure and function in medicine: anatomy, biochemistry, behavioral science, physiology, and neuroscience. After you've covered the groundwork, the focus shifts to microbiology, immunology, pathology, and pharmacology for the study of abnormalities of structure and function, disease, and general therapeutic principles.

  In addition to the core scientific work, you will be exposed to the topics of nutrition, medical ethics, genetics, laboratory medicine, health care delivery systems, substance abuse, human values, research, preventive medicine, community health, geriatrics, and human sexuality.

  You'll also work with actual patients and with people trained to simulate patients as you learn interviewing skills and how to obtain current and historical data from patients and conduct physical examinations.

  Clinical training. During your third and fourth years, you'll be involved in clinical rotations, or clerkships, which can last from four to 12 weeks per rotation. You'll work with patients and their families in inpatient (hospital) and outpatient (doctor's office) settings under the supervision of physician faculty members (attending physicians) and residents, as well as other members of the clinical team, including nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, and technical staff. 

  You'll collect relevant data and information from patients and present findings to faculty members for diagnosis and treatment planning. You'll be expected to provide information to patients' family members, answer their questions, and prepare them for the outcome of patients' care.

  This training will introduce you to the medical specialties, such as internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. Depending on the school, rotations can also include family medicine, primary care, neurology, or a community or rural medicine internship.

  More information about Clinical/Research Electives .

• [top]

• What will I learn as a resident?

  During your fourth year of medical school, you'll choose a medical specialty and apply to graduate medical education programs known as residencies. 

  During residency, which typically lasts between three and seven years (depending on the specialty), you will learn to treat patients under the direct supervision of attending physicians. You can expect to learn to apply your basic science knowledge and clinical skills in diagnosing and treating patients' illnesses and injuries. You'll learn clinical decision-making and patient management skills, and you will interact daily with faculty members, whether at the bedside, during inpatient team discussions (known as rounds), on patient visits, or in case-based lectures and small-group discussions.

  More information about Elective Rotations for Residents and Clinical Fellows .
  
  

• [top]