How To Become A Medical Doctor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical doctor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Janet Williams Ph.D.

Medical doctors practice one of the oldest professions known to humankind--the first written record of someone practicing medicine comes from ancient Babylon. Thankfully for us, their tools and knowledge have evolved significantly since ancient times!

Medical doctors can work in hospitals, private practices, or clinics. They can specialize in many different fields from pediatrics, which is the care of children; to oncology, which is the branch of medicine dedicated to treating cancer. No matter where they work or their specialty, medical doctors care for patients by diagnosing their problems, providing treatment plans, and following up on medical issues.

The road to becoming a medical doctor is long, hard, and also fairly expensive. Medical doctors need to have a bachelor's degree, finish medical school, work as a resident, and then finally they can get their medical license. Even once they earn the title, medical doctors continue working hard and often work many hours of overtime.

What general advice would you give to a medical doctor?

Janet Williams Ph.D.

Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms

Students who wish to continue their education in healthcare (MD, DO, DMD, DVM, PA, PT, OT, and many other areas), should ensure that they have plenty of experience in healthcare by becoming certified as an EMT or CNA, and spend at least 1-2 years working or volunteering in that capacity. Students should graduate with strong GPAs, over 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, and should have taken all of their prerequisite courses. Students should be prepared to take standardized admissions exams, and plan to do well in them.

ScoreMedical DoctorUS Average

Salary

9.7

Avg. Salary $181,967

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 19.01%

Black or African American 5.29%

Hispanic or Latino 9.86%

Unknown 4.49%

White 61.18%

Gender

female 53.07%

male 46.93%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical doctor

Explore medical doctor education requirements

Most common medical doctor degrees

Doctorate

55.9 %

Bachelor's

24.3 %

Master's

6.8 %

Start to develop specific medical doctor skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	30.41%
Patient Care	8.61%
Internal Medicine	6.91%
Primary Care	6.89%
Diagnosis	4.26%

Complete relevant medical doctor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical doctors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical doctor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical doctor resumes.

Research medical doctor duties and responsibilities

Partner with team to achieve overall well-being patients and contribute to successful department research accreditation.
Perform selection and interpretation of labs including EKG readings, diagnostic imaging, blood work, and urinalyses.
Batch to clearing house, upload files from insurance, data entry answer phones, collect payments over phone, EMR.
Examine patients, order laboratory test and other diagnostic procedures and follow up with acute and chronic diseases

Prepare your medical doctor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical doctor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical doctor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical doctor resume templates

Build a professional medical doctor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical doctor resume.