Becoming a
Physician
Preparing
for Medical School
Most medical
schools require a strong background in biology, chemistry,
physics and mathematics. Courses in the humanities, social
sciences and English are also important because physicians
need to understand people and be effective communicators.
Becoming a physician is an enormous investment, so it's
important to learn as much as you can about the educational
process and the work of physicians to make sure that it is
the field for you. Reading about medicine and medical
careers can help, so can talking with medical students,
residents and physicians. Shadowing a physician and having
a summer job in a medical setting can also be useful.
A college or university premedical advisor can help with
the application process. Also, every year, the
Association of American Indian
Physicians (AAIP)
conducts a pre-admission workshop in conjunction with
the annual AAIP meeting. Topics include: selecting a
school, the admissions tests (the MCAT), writing a
personal statement, and financial resources. There are
even mock interviews that help students prepare for the
medical school interviews linked to the application
process.
The
Medical School Admissions Requirements, published by
the Association of American Medical
Colleges provides the
specific admission requirements of each U.S. and
Canadian medical school
Medical
School
Two kinds of
medical degrees are available: the MD (medical doctor) and
the DO (doctor of osteopathy). There are 125 medical
schools in the US and 23 schools of osteopathy. In the past
the DO programs differed more from the MD programs than
then they do today. Now graduates of DO programs are
welcomed into many MD-based residency programs. In general
DO programs tend to be more primary care oriented than the
majority of MD programs. Most DO programs teach osteopathic
manipulative techniques.
Even among themselves, MD schools differ. Some are more
primary care and community oriented. Others are more
focused on producing physician-scientists. Some medical
schools offer combined MD-PhD programs.
For many decades, medical students spent most of the first
two years of medical school in lectures and labs where they
studied anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology,
pharmacology and the behavioral sciences. In their second
year, they also took introductory courses in physical
examination and interviewing. In the last two years of
medical school students rotated through hospital-based
clerkships in such specialties as internal medicine,
pediatrics, surgery, and psychiatry.
The awareness that real learning needs to take place in the
context of patient care has led to innovations. In a
growing number of schools, first and second year students
participate in problem-based learning. Meeting in small
tutorial groups with a faculty member, students learn the
sciences basic to medicine in the context of real patient
problems, usually presented as a paper case that is
sometimes illustrated with video clips. First and second
year medical students begin to learn how to examine and
treat patients, often with the help of standardized
patients - people who have been trained to present with
real health problems. As they develop their patient care
skills, first and second year medical students have
opportunities to be involved in the care of real patients,
under the supervision of a physician.
In addition to the traditional hospital-based clerkships,
most third and fourth year medical students have
community-based clerkships in family medicine and/or the
other primary care specialties. Primary care is the
foundation of medicine so first and second year students
are also spending more time in community practices with
family physicians, and other generalists.
Residency
Following
medical school, physicians who want to practice medicine
spend 3 to 7 years in a residency program in the specialty
of their choice. Specialties
include: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics,
obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, dermatology,
surgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, psychiatry,
preventive medicine, allergy and immunology, and
urology.
Fellowship
Physicians who
want to become highly specialized in a subspecialty field
such as pediatric urology (a subspecialty of urology) or
gastroenterology (a subspecialty of internal medicine and
pediatrics) need additional years of education.
Advice
Dr. Everett Rhoades
advises:
“There has to be a love a learning and determination.
You need to be able to set aside immediate gratification
and be able to differentiate between college as an
opportunity to learn and college as a social event.”
Dr. Erik Brodt, suggests
getting a mentor, following your dream, and staying in
school.
Dr. Pat Rock says,
“Becoming a physician is very doable as long as you have
direction and the drive and the stick-to-itness to see
the process through. The process can be trying but
support from your family or extended family can help you
cope. Becoming a physician was worth every cent and
sweat I put into it. It’s very fulfilling work.
For descriptions of a few programs that recruit/support
American Indian and Alaska Native students, see
Schools/Programs.
This
article was originally published in the Winter 2006 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist, Roxanne Chinook, is a tribal member of the
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation
in Oregon. "My art emulates a personal and cultural
experience, from the spirit of the trickster to healing
from the traumas of my past." For more conformation,
contact American Indian Art from the Pacific
Northwest.