Pre-medicine at Purdue Calumet – The First Step to Becoming a Physician
Modified from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm
Pre-Medicine Option (SPM) Plan of Study (PDF)
What does a doctor do?
Physicians and surgeons diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses in patients. Physicians examine patients, take medical histories, prescribe medications, and order, perform, and interpret diagnostic tests. Surgeons operate on patients to treat injuries, such as broken bones; diseases, such as cancerous tumors; and deformities, such as cleft palates. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm
Education
Undergraduate education: Four years at a college or university to earn a BS or BA degree, usually with a strong emphasis on basic sciences, such as biology, chemistry, and physics (some students may enter medical school with other areas of emphasis).
- Medical school: Four years of education at one of the U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. After completing medical school, students earn their doctor of medicine degrees (MDs), although they must complete additional training before practicing on their own as a physician. (Note: Some physicians receive a degree from a college of osteopathic medicine.)
- Residency program: Newly graduated MDs enter into a residency program that is three to seven years or more of professional training, depending on the medical specialty.
- Fellowship: One to three years of additional training in a subspecialty is an option for some doctors who want to become highly specialized in a particular field.
- After their medical education, a physician still must obtain a license to practice medicine from a state or jurisdiction of the United States in which they are planning to practice.
- The majority of physicians choose to become board certified. Certification ensures that the doctor has been tested to assess his or her knowledge, skills, and experience in a specialty and is deemed qualified to provide quality patient care in that specialty.
Throughout their careers doctors continue to receive credits for continuing medical education, and some states require a certain number of CME credits per year to ensure the doctor’s knowledge and skills remain current.—Some of the above information was adapted from “Your Doctor’s Education” in JAMA, Sept. 6, 2000.
Modified from: The American Medical Association website: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers.page
Pre-medicine Option at Purdue University Calumet
Purdue University Calumet’s biology program offers courses which meet the requirements for application to medical school and for successful completion of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). A wide variety of upper level biology courses are available for students to choose from. Several of the courses have a lab component that allow students to learn laboratory skills and gain hands-on experience using standard testing methods as well as cutting edge techniques.
How much does a doctor earn?
Data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that the “median annual wage of physicians and surgeons was $166,400 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less.
Admissions
- For more information on applying to this program visit the Purdue Calumet Admissions webpage.
Graduation Requirement for Pre-Physical Therapy Option – Min 124 Credits
Download the Pre-Medicine Option (SPM) Plan of Study (PDF)
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