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Primary care & specialty medicine
Physician
Eleven years minimum, and residency is the part nobody prepares you for.
Typical pay
$210k-$500k+ depending on specialty
How you get in
MD or DO plus a 3-7 year residency
Outlook
Strong; shortages in primary care and rural areas
Physicians diagnose and treat illness across an enormous range of specialties. The training is the longest of any civilian career, and specialty choice determines income, hours and lifestyle far more than the MD itself does.
A day in the life
- 6:30aPre-round, review overnight labs and vitals
- 7:30aRounds with the team, adjust plans
- 10:00aProcedures, consults or clinic depending on the service
- 1:00pLunch, usually eaten while charting
- 2:00pAfternoon patients or operative cases
- 7:00pNotes, orders, and the documentation that follows you home
How to get in
MD through residency
Duration
11-15 years total
Cost
$200,000-$400,000
Credential
MD plus state license and board certification
- Complete a bachelor's with premed prerequisites and a strong GPA
- Score well on the MCAT and survive a brutal admissions process
- Four years of medical school, then match into a residency
- Complete 3-7 years of residency, then board certify in your specialty
DO route
Duration
11-15 years total
Cost
$200,000-$400,000
Credential
DO plus license and board certification
- Complete the same prerequisites and apply to osteopathic schools
- Four years of osteopathic medical school, including manipulative medicine
- Match into the same unified residency system as MD graduates
- Fully equivalent practice rights; historically more primary-care oriented
Non-traditional and career changers
Duration
13-17 years total
Cost
$220,000-$450,000
Credential
MD or DO
- Complete a post-baccalaureate premed program if your degree was in another field
- Get clinical and research experience — required to be competitive
- Apply, then follow the standard medical school and residency path
- Older applicants are accepted regularly, but the timeline is unforgiving
What people love
- · Among the highest earning potential of any profession
- · Genuine authority over patient care
- · Enormous range of specialties and lifestyles
- · Job security is essentially absolute
What wears people down
- · 11-15 years of training before full earnings
- · $200k-$400k of educational debt is common
- · Residency means 60-80 hour weeks at low pay
- · Burnout and administrative burden are the profession's central complaints