Doctors have an effect upon all our lives. When we are sick, they tell us what we have. They give us medicine and other kinds of treatment. They examine us and listen to us tell them how we feel. They tell us what is good for us to eat and how we can have better hygiene. They may be part of a team that works together for our health.

          Many doctors work long hours, at all times. More than one-third of all full-time doctors worked 60 hours a week or more in 1998. Often, older doctors have fewer new patients and tend to work shorter hours. Physicians who are on call may have to go to the hospital when someone gets sick. Sometimes, doctors must travel between their offices and the hospital to care for their patients.

          Becoming a doctor requires more training than almost any other job. It usually takes at least 11 years to become a doctor: 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 3 years working in a hospital. A few medical schools let students go to college and medical school for 6 years combined instead of the usual 8 years. For some specialties, a doctor may have to work in a hospital for up to eight years.

           To become a doctor, when you go to college, you should study mostly math, English, and science. You may also want to work for no money at a hospital or clinic to get experience.  After you finish college, you will have to go to medical school. It is not easy to get into medical school. You have to do very well in college and on medical school entrance tests.

          Students spend most of the first 2 years of medical school in labs and classrooms. They take lots of science courses. They also learn to ask patients the right questions and how to examine them. They learn how to tell what sickness a patient has. In the last 2 years, students work with patients and doctors in hospitals and clinics. There, they learn many ways to treat a patient's disease.  

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