Here, we will find out just how long it actually takes to become a doctor. We'll add up how many years each step takes and arrive at our shocking conclusion. http://medcareerpower.com/how-many-years-does-it-take-to-become-a-doctor/

1. We all know that a physician's training is long and hard. Very arduous. Only for the dedicated.
But how long does it really take to become a doctor? How many years do you really have to spend
training? In this article, we're going to break it down and find out how long it really takes to become a
doctor. How many years does it take to become a doctor?
The first step to becoming a physician is to attain your baccalaureate degree. As you all
(hopefully) know, this takes (or should take, rather) four years. You need a bachelor's degree to go to
medical school. It's that simple. This is the first step. There is no way around it.
The next step is to get into medical school! This is a difficult challenge. Many promising
students fail to make the cut. Medical school entrance is very competitive. This does take place during
undergraduate study in most cases though, so it doesn't add any time.
After getting into medical school, you need to go to medical school! Medical school takes four
years. At the end of those four years, you get your MD degree and can make people call you doctor.
You're not allowed to practice medicine, but you're called physician. Pretty sweet. Making people call
you doctor is probably at least half of the reason anybody goes into medicine anyway.
Following medical school, you've got your internship. This takes one year. Depending on your
specialty, your internship year may or may not be included in your general residency program. For
most specialties, it is in fact the case that you do not go through a freestanding internship year. For
some weirdo specialties like neurology, you still have to do the archaic one year before residency thing.
After your internship is done, though, you're legally allowed to practice medicine! Good for you. Many
attending physicians actually practice medicine while training. How they find the time and energy to do
so is unknown, but it does happen.
After your internship, you're got your residency. This takes anywhere from three to eight years,
depending on what type of medicine you're going into. Want to be a surgeon? You're going to need
significantly more training than a pediatrician or a family practice doctor. That's just how things go.
After residency, you may or may not be done with your training as a physician. It varies. The
primary determining factor is how specialized you want to go. If you want to do something like
cardiology, you need more training. Post-residency training usually takes place in the fellowship
setting. These may take anywhere from one to three years, depending again on specialty and the length
of the individual program.