Road to becoming physician starts with the basics, widens

The road to becoming a doctor through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine begins with basic steps, but broadens as the journey goes into specialties.

Step 1: Undergraduate degree/pre-med -- four years

• The undergraduate degree can be in any field, but the UAMS College of Medicine has basic premedical requirements for admission: varying undergraduate credits in biology, chemistry, genetics, physics, English, statistics and social sciences.

• Admission to virtually all allopathic medical schools in the nation requires a strong performance on the Medical College Admission Test. The standardized, multiple-choice exam gauges knowledge in four areas: biological and biochemical foundations of living systems; chemical and physical foundations of biological systems; psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior; and critical analysis and reasoning skills.

Step 2: Medical school -- four years

• The medical doctorate degree involves "pre-clinical" years, and then "clinical" years, each two years long.

• About 85 percent of entering students earn their degrees within four years. However, the college allows up to seven years.

• The seven-year limit is waived for those students earning medical doctorates as well as PhDs. Those students typically take two years of medical school, complete their PhDs in about three years and then return to medical school for another two years.

Step 3: Internship -- one year

• During the fourth year of medical school, students compete for a limited number of internship and residency spots at hospitals around the nation.

• The first year after medical college includes a series of examinations and then at least one year of postgraduate training before an applicant can become eligible to apply for a license to practice medicine.

• New medical doctors treat patients, but are under the supervision of experienced faculty members commonly called "attending physicians."

• This is the period when residents can specialize in areas such as surgery, radiology or family medicine.

• It's at this time that medical students start getting paid. (The starting salary for a UAMS first-year postgraduate intern is $51,289.)

Step 4: Residency -- two years or more

• Doctors complete the training in their chosen specialties and become "board eligible."

• The time it takes to finish the residency depends on the specialty. Internal medicine and family medicine generally take three years, while a neurosurgery residency takes six to seven years, for example.

Step 5: Fellowship -- one to seven years

• This is the time when doctors can certify in subspecialties.

• For example, to become a board-certified cardio-thoracic surgeon (heart surgeon), a medical doctor must complete three years of fellowship training in heart surgery after a five-year general surgery residency.

Metro on 08/26/2018