The journey to become a physician starts in high school. Your education needs to be well rounded and you need have an excellent academic record. Show that you want to be in a service oriented career by doing community service work. Also, show your interest in medicine by volunteering at a hospital or doctor’s office or shadowing a doctor.

Next, you need a 4 year undergraduate degree. The major does not matter, but you are required to take a certain amount of science courses (biology, chemistry and physics), which may be outside of your degree program. Near the completion of your undergraduate degree, you need to take the MCAT exam. You should have started studying for this exam by your third year of undergraduate education.

To get into medical school, show that you are a leader and develop relationships that will give you good recommendations. The recommendations are required for your medical school application. The application is time-sensitive, so you need to be aware of the timeline for gathering all of your materials. Be prepared for several interviews at medical school as part of the application process.

Medical School is 4 years of coursework. After completing the 4 years, you need to get graduate education, called a residency program. Usually this lasts 3 to 7 years, depending on your chosen specialty. If you choose a subspecialty, then you may have 1 to 3 years of additional training.

After completing graduate education, you need to take several exams to obtain a license to practice medicine in your particular state.

If you are a physican who treats patients, your job is to examine patients, diagnose their problems, prescribe medication or therapy and give followup instructions. Some specialty physicians perform surgeries or other procedures.

Research physicians may or may not treat patients during their research study. They may also work in a lab testing equipment, medications or new procedures.