Be a Super Hero

What it Takes to be a Doctor

Being a doctor is hard work. It often means long hours and dealing with many different patients and issues all at the same time. In fact, it takes a strong commitment even to become a licensed physician. First, doctors must complete a regular four-year college degree program as pre-med students. Then they attend medical school, where they’ll spend another four years in classroom and clinical training. After that, they must pass a medical board exam to receive their medical degrees before moving on to a three-year on-the-job training program called an internship and residency. That's 23 years of school before you get to be a doctor on your own!

Finally, during the internship and residency, they decide whether they want to specialize in a certain kind of medicine. For example, they might decide to become surgeons, pediatricians or any one of many different specialties. Many of these specialties require even more training just to learn about that specific kind of medicine.

Of course, there’s more to being a doctor than just seeing patients. You'll be part of an entire team of healthcare professionals — nurses, technicians, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, office staff, insurance companies and others — all working to achieve one goal: to improve patients’ health.

If you are thinking about becoming a doctor, talk to one of ours. You’ll get a good idea of what it takes, and what you can expect from this exciting and challenging career.