Biology Forums - Study Force

I want to be in the medical school when I'm older but I don't want to have a lot of loans and I don't want to sped a lot a lot of years in school. How many years of schooling to become a doctor and how many years to become a physician?

All medical doctors are physicians.  But you can be a doctor of anything.  Thus PhD.  Doctor of Philosophy.  Physicians are simply doctors of medicine.  Thus MD.

A physician is a doctor of medicine so they are the same thing. So if you are a doctor you are a physician. To become a doctor you need to get good grades in high school, at least a 3.8 GPA throughout highschool. Then you need another 4 years in college to get a bachelor's degree. Then take the MCATs and get good on those to apply to medical school. Once you get into medical school it takes another 4 years to be a M.D or physician. Then you need 2-5 residency to specialize in something. Then you can do a fellow ship or be off on your own. So all together it takes around 11-13 years to be a doctor.

Being a doctor racks up a lot of loans. Debt can be $100,000 to $200,000. So yea be prepared to pay alot of loans, but the good thing is that you get paid as a resident at a hospital. Around $30,000 to $50,000 a year.

If you want to be a doctor it will take many years and you'll have to take out alot of loans to pay for school. Don't be a doctor for the money because you're regret it in the future. There are many different jobs out there and you just need to choose the right one. Good luck and never give up.

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Just to add on to smooch's post, advanced nursing practice is now requiring a phd, that for california, im not sure if other states are doing this as well

medical doctor = physician
PhD = Doctor

that makes sense