How to Become a Doctor?

Doctors have often been regarded as equivalent to gods since they have the ability of converting a sick person into a healthy person through their treatment and efforts. One of the most noble professions in the world, a doctor undergoes a lot of training before becoming eligible to practice professionally. Is being a doctor your dream profession? If yes, then this blog is for you! Take a look at this blog to get an idea about how to become a doctor.

Eligibility	10+2, Cleared Entrance
Entrance Exams	NEET, NEET MDS, AIIMS
Career Opportunities	Multi Speciality Hospitals, Government Hospitals, Healthcare Centers, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies
Related Industry	Healthcare

Roles and Responsibilities of a Doctor

A doctor is an umbrella term that is inclusive of numerous branches and specializations. People can be general doctors or they can gain mastery in one or two fields. A doctor (or physician) is a licenced medical professional who ensures health care and health-related facilities. Doctors operate individually and are also seen in hospitals, emergency rooms, labs, or other institutions. The basic jobs of a doctor include the following.

• They ask and analyse the patient’s concerns. Doctors also probe patients and ask about the various symptoms or concerns they are facing.
• Doctors make a prognosis by making educated guesses or even perform physical tests.
• After prognosis, doctors identify what’s wrong with the patient and diagnose them with accurate illness.
• They then prescribe medicines and propose a treatment plan to cure the patient’s condition.

Specializations

Among the numerous specializations students can choose, here are a few popular specializations to become a doctor.

• Dermatologist
• Dentist
• Gynecologist
• Medical Analyst
• Anesthesiologist
• Pathologist
• Physician
• Researcher
• Radiologist
• Neurologist
• Surgeon
• Nutritionist
• Forensic Officer
• Paediatrician

Eligibility Criteria

The basic requirement is the MBBS degree which is the entry card to a career in medicine. Apart from MBBS, The other options are BDS (Dentistry), BAMS (Ayurveda), BHMS (Homoeopathy), BSMS (Siddha), and BUMS (Unani). The course spans 5 and a half years and concludes with a year of compulsory internship. 

• Students must complete their 12th with Physics, Chemistry and Biology and gain a minimum of 55%.
• Students must pass the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test or NEET is a common entrance examination conducted for students looking to enter MBBS courses. Many colleges conduct their own entrance examinations.

How to become a Doctor: A Step by Step Guide

Becoming a doctor is not easy, you need to go through intense studies and training spanning a minimum of 6-7 years to be a qualified professional in the field. If you are determined on becoming a doctor then the following steps will help you achieve your goal faster: 

Choose the Science Stream in High School

You need to start paving your path towards becoming a doctor from your high school days. The first step is to choose the science stream at the 10+2 level in school. The essential requirements for studying a higher degree in medicine include basic knowledge of science subjects including chemistry, biology and physics. Along with this, you have to ensure that you have a good academic record which fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria for taking admission for a degree in medicine. 

Go for a Degree in Medicine

The Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree is the basic course you need to pursue to become a doctor. After completing your higher secondary education you need to study the MBBS degree which is an undergraduate course of 5 and a half years duration. In India, you need to have a qualifying rank in entrance exams such as the NEET, AIIMS or JIPMER MBBS exams to be eligible to pursue MBBS. This professional degree offers training in all the necessary skills that a doctor should possess, including a knowledge of medical procedures and surgery. The program comes with a mandatory internship or training period of 12 months in which the medical students get a practical experience of working in a hospital.

Also Read: MBBS Subjects

Get Registered as a Doctor

You need to get a certificate or license from the required department of a country before being eligible to practice as a doctor. In India, a person who has completed their MBBS degree along with the mandatory internship period is eligible to become a doctor. They need to get themselves registered with the Indian Medical Register to begin their career as a doctor. For candidates who have completed their graduation degree abroad, they can get certified as a doctor under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 after appearing for the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) which is conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE). You don’t need to register separately if you wish to practice in a different state in India, since all doctors registered with any state medical council are automatically included within the Indian medical register, thereby making them eligible to practice anywhere in the country.

Opt for a Specialisation

After completing your MBBS degree, you can also opt for a higher degree in medicine in which you can specialise in a particular field of your interest. A Doctor of Medicine or MD degree can be pursued as a general program or in any of the specialisations like cardiology, neurology, gynecology etc. or you could go for a Master of Surgery or MS degree to become a specialised medical surgeon. Both these postgraduate degrees are generally of a duration of 3 years and their syllabus consist of both theoretical knowledge and practical training to equip the student with the knowledge required to become a specialist in the field. Getting a higher medical degree also makes you eligible for more career options than only MBBS.

Join a Hospital or Practice Independently

After completing your MBBS or higher medical degree and getting registered as a doctor, you can either join a hospital as a doctor or a specialist or can choose to practice independently. You can also kickstart your career by opening your own clinic for treating patients. 

How to Become Homeopathic Doctor?

Skills Required to Become a Doctor

The following are the skills required to become a doctor:

• Leadership skills
• Critical thinking
• Teamwork
• Time management and organization
• Compassion
• Problem solving abilities
• Quick thinking
• Eye for detail
• Critical analysis
• Active hearing

Top Medical Colleges in India

We have listed some of the top medical colleges in India below for students who wish to pursue medicine in India –

Ranking	Institutes
1	All India Institute of Medical Sciences
2	Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
3	Christian Medical College
4	National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences
5	Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences
6	Banaras Hindu University
7	Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research
8	Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research
9	Kasturba Medical College
10	King George`s Medical University

Top Medical Schools

Now that you know the process of how to become a doctor, let’s take a look at some of the best universities where you can pursue your medical degree. Here are the top global medical schools according to the QS World University Rankings 2023:

University	Country	Rank
Harvard University	United States	5
University of Oxford	United Kingdom	4
University of Cambridge	United Kingdom	2
Stanford University	United States	3
Johns Hopkins University	United States	24
Karolinska Institute	Sweden	–
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	United States	44
UCL (University College London)	United Kingdom	8
Yale University	United States	18
Imperial College London	United Kingdom	6

How to Become a Doctor Without MBBS

There are many courses in the medical field that students can pursue if they wish to become a doctor without MBBS or NEET. Here are some alternative medical courses other than MBBS.

Specializations	Course	Duration
Nursing	B.Sc. Nursing	4 Years
Pharmacy	B.Pharma	4 Years
Physiotherapy	B.Sc. Physiotherapy	4 Years
Biotechnology	B.Sc. Biotechnology	3 Years
Biomedical Engineering	B.Sc. Biomedical Sciences / B.Tech Biomedical Engineering	4 Years
Cyber Forensic	B.Sc. in Cyber Forensic	2-3 Years
Cardiac Technology	B.Sc in Cardiac/ Cardiovascular Technology	4 Years

Job Profile and Salary 

Along with the satisfaction of saving people’s lives, being a doctor is a very lucrative career option. Doctors engaged in general practice in India earn an annual salary of around Rs. 6,89,387 on average.

Job Profile Avg. Salary
General Physician 7.10 Lakh
Cardiologist 14.10 Lakh
Oncologist 9.45 Lakh
Neurologist 11.64 Lakh
Gynecologist 10.80 Lakh

The salary of specialists, on the other hand, is much higher. The salary for doctors is higher in countries abroad – a doctor in the UK earns an average annual salary of around $85,250 or INR 69.41 Lakh for general practice and around $174,068 or INR 1.41 Cr for specialists.

Similarly, general physicians in the USA earn around $208,560 or INR 1.69 Cr on an average annually, while the salary of specialists goes much higher. 

FAQs

Hope you found this guide on how to be a doctor useful. If you want to pursue a degree in medicine abroad but are unsure of the process, then worry not! Reach out to our experts at Leverage Edu who can not only guide you through the application process but also help you in identifying the best universities according to your requirements! Sign up for a free session with our experts today!