After medical school, you complete a residency. Yes, you see patients, but you are a resident and completing your specialty training. Only AFTER residency can you become board-certified in your medical specialty.

The first year of residency is internship, and by all accounts, it pretty much sucks. You get paid, but not much. Most interns/residents start out at about 35-40 grand per year, which is nothing considering the hours you put in.

The subsequent number of years in residency depend on the specialty you are entering. You make a little more, and work fewer hours as you advance in residency training.

After residency you start making "real" money, so to speak, and you take the boards to become certified in your specialty.

Hope that breaks it down for you.

Corpsman Up, what are the exams in medical school like? Do they just measure reading knowledge of medical texts, or is reasoning/problem solving required to answer the questions? Thanks.

Depends on the med school... some use a traditional lecture/text/objectives format almost exclusively, and others use a more clinical approach in teaching. The school I attend makes use of both kinds of teaching and exams.

However, you definitely have to use reasoning and problem solving with the information, no matter what! I mean, that is a huge part of being a good doc, you know?

Basically, you have a bazillion facts to learn, and you ALSO need to know how to use those facts in a given setting. That is part of the challenge...

Additionally, because I have osteopathic training included in my medical school curriculum, we also have practical exams involving physical medicine treatment methods. We also see "patients" (actors from the community) for videotaped and/or proctored tests on our ability to complete medical histories and different types of system examinations.

It is a lot of work, and it is friggin' hard, but it is the coolest thing I have ever done.

Good luck! 😛

What standardized tests, if any, are left to take after the MCAT?

Oooohhhh, man.

The fun begins AFTER the MCAT.

The boards (USMLE for allopathic, or COMLEX for osteopathic) Step One is after the second year of med school. Step Two is during the 4th year of medical school, and Step Three is during internship year. I have heard from physicians that the exams get progressively less challenging as you go on -- mostly because you know a lot more.

(The witticism that I heard about boards was -- you use 3 months in preparing for Step One, 3 weeks for Step Two, and 3 number 2 pencils for taking Step Three. I don't know if it is true.)

After that onslaught come the boards for your medical specialty, depending on what that might be... family practice, surgery, psychiatry, whatever.

So yeah, it is an exam-intensive process. 😮