Top: Health: Medicine: Education

Pages

Undergraduate Medical Education

Studies in medical school typically take 4 years to complete. This phase of education can be divided into two sections: basic (2 years) and clinical (2 years).

The first two years of basic science teach medical students the core scientific knowledge about the human body. These years can be further subdivided into the first year, where the student learns about the "normal" aspects of the human body, and the second year, where the student learns about the "abnormal".

The basic science years are followed by two years of clinical rotations and electives. Students are introduced to the actual care of patients in several fields, such as surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, etc. The required rotations may differ among medical schools.

After completion of medical school, the student receives a medical degree (M.D. or D.O.) and the title of "doctor". The fresh graduate is not yet permitted to independently practice medicine, but must complete additional training and be licensed.


Process of Medical Education

To become a medical doctor in the United States, the student typically progresses through four stages:

  • undergraduate education (4 years of college)
  • undergraduate medical education (4 years of medical school)
  • graduate medical education (residency and fellowship)
  • licensure/certification

    To maintain certification, doctors are also required to undergo regular continuing medical education, as prescribed by their respective specialty's governing board.


  •  All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyright Policy for details.) 
    
    © Open-Site Foundation, Inc.
    Hosted by Android Technologies, Inc. the medical robotics news source.
    Visit our sister sites dmoz.org | mozilla.org | chefmoz.org | musicmoz.org