Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Doctors: An Ancient Respected Profession

By Adriana Noton

Medical doctors hold one of the oldest professions in the world. Physicians date back to ancient times and are found in every culture all over the world. They core responsibility is centered on maintaining the health of healthy individuals or restoring the health of sick individuals. With their special education and training, they have the ability to diagnose a particular ailment or illness then provide medical treatment. They are vital to physical maintenance of our society.

There are many names and terms for physicians. Medical doctors are often termed General Practitioners and they hold a general knowledge of medicine. These are our family physicians. Those that have specialties are called so by that particular specialty. For instance, a heart doctor is known as a cardiologist. But you can have the title Doctor without being in the medical profession.

Ancient Egypt had the first formal physicians. They treated many kinds of illnesses and used the study of certain herbs and science to cure diseases. Surgery was also practiced in ancient Egypt. Highly trained physicians understand the workings of the body and implemented surgical remedies to heal the sick or impaired.

High level academic degrees are known as doctorates. An English professor can be called a doctor if he has earned such a degree. Canada and the United States hold the term physician for those that have acquired the advance degree of Doctor of Medicine otherwise known as M. D. You will see this noted after the physicians full name.

In modern medicine, the first American program was established in 1765. The Bachelor of Medicine was the first medical degree offered in North America and Canada. Most of the beginning medical schools were founded by medical practitioners that received their training in England. The degree later changed from Bachelor of Medicine to Medical Doctorate.

It takes a lot of education and hard work to become a doctor. But physicians are also held to other standards such as moral and ethical. They are often thought of as role models for society and are often held to higher standards than everyone else. For instance, many believe that medical professionals should not smoke. They cancer and heart disease linked to smoking makes them dangerous for society as a whole and therefore something physicians should not partake in at all.

Getting into medical school is a very competitive process. Only about a third of the thousands of applicants make it into a school. Once admitted, several others will never make it through the entire program. Before getting admitted into medical school you have to complete a four year undergraduate program. Upon doing so, then you must take the medical school entrance exam which is known as the MCAT.

After passing all of the required course work and exams in medical school, students then move on the their qualifying licensing. There are certain credentials required to practice medicine. New doctors must do a certain amount of clinical hours and pass several exams. Then there is a required residency program new physicians must fulfill. Those that are choosing a particular specialty will have additional training and qualifying exams.

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