Credit: etactics.com
PITTSBURGH (PTTP) – There are many years of school a person must go through in order to become a doctor. The schooling process takes 10-15 years before a person can officially become a doctor. There is six years of actual schooling and then a prospective doctor completes four to nine years of hands-on medical practice.
The schooling process is broken down into four main components. The first being an undergraduate degree. This must be a four-year degree, but it can be in any major as long as the student completes the required courses. Next, the student must pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Once a student passes this exam, they can apple to medical school. Med school lasts four years with the first two being book work and the last two being hand-on experience. Finally, a future doctor matches with a residency program and completes the program in three to seven years.
The process of matching with a residency program is an important one. Students apply and interview for various programs around the world to try to decide which one they would want to do. They then rank their picks, and the programs choose which applicants they want to accept. A computer program then “matches” the students with a program. All students find out at the exact same time on a day known as “Match Day.”