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Medical resident education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, medical residents don't need a college education. The most common degree for medical residents is doctoral degree with 35% graduates, with only 34% medical resident graduates earning bachelor's degree. Medical residents who decided to graduate from college often finish University of the Sciences or University of Florida. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, patient care and residency program.

Popular medical resident certifications include Medical Physics, Medical Assistant, or Family Medicine. To improve medical resident qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in medical resident education paths.

What education do you need to become a medical resident?

What degree do you need to be a medical resident?

The most common degree for medical residents is doctoral degree, with 35% of medical residents earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 34% and bachelor's degree degree at 11%.
  • Doctorate, 35%
  • Bachelor's, 34%
  • Master's, 11%
  • Associate, 6%
  • Other Degrees, 14%

What should I major in to become a medical resident?

You should major in medicine to become a medical resident. 34% of medical residents major in medicine. Other common majors for a medical resident include veterinary science and public health.

Best majors for medical residents

RankMajorPercentages
1Medicine34.0%
2Veterinary Science9.6%
3Public Health8.2%
4Nursing7.5%
5Physics7.3%

20 best online courses for medical residents

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1. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...

2. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...

3. Medical Terminology

udemy
4.7
(3,688)

Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...

4. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing

udemy
4.4
(767)

Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...

5. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

6. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

coursera

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

7. Introduction to Medical Imaging

udemy
4.5
(827)

Your guide to the history, science, math, and economics of medical imaging systems (e.g., X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound)...

8. Internal audit on Medical Device QMS - ISO 13485:2016

udemy
4.3
(578)

Successfully conduct an internal audit based on requirements of ISO 13485:2016 for Medical Device Development and QMS...

9. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

10. Medical Terminology 101

udemy
4.4
(752)

For those in healthcare, billing, and more. Boost earning ability and marketable skills by learning to speak medicine...

11. A Specialty Approach to Learning Medical Billing and Coding

udemy
4.6
(352)

Volume One: Medical Hematology...

12. AMCI Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course

udemy
4.6
(444)

Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course...

13. Medical Device Regulation (MDR): Intro for Device Designers

udemy
4.4
(520)

An introduction to the EU's Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for those involved in developing medical devices...

14. Medical Devices Quality Management System - ISO 13485:2016

udemy
4.2
(631)

Awareness and Application for the requirements of ISO 13485:2016 for Medical Device Development and QMS...

15. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.

udemy
4.3
(764)

Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...

16. Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Training

udemy
4.5
(645)

Learn medical coding and prepare yourself for today's healthcare workplace...

17. ISO 13485 Demystified - Medical Devices' QMS 360° Insights

udemy
4
(648)

Deep dive into the world of ISO 13485 international standard for medical devices' QMS, basic concepts & requirements...

18. ISO 13485:2016 - Design and Development of Medical Devices

udemy
4.2
(408)

Design and Development of Medical Devices in the perspective of ISO 13485:2016 and Medical Devices Industry...

19. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - European Medical Devices

udemy
4.5
(527)

A practical course discussing the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) in real-world situations...

20. EU Medical Device Regulatory Affairs explained Simply

udemy
4.3
(391)

How to get approval to sell Medical Devices within the European Union. Understand regulatory affairs & ISO 13485 2016...

Average medical resident salary by education level

According to our data, medical residents with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $60,845 annually. Medical residents with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $59,823.
Medical resident education levelMedical resident salary
Master's Degree$60,845
High School Diploma or Less$58,210
Bachelor's Degree$59,823
Some College/ Associate Degree$58,873

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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