Basic Information On Doctors In The US

By Iva Cannon


A doctor refers to a medical professional who specializes in the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of human health through diagnosis, study, and treatment of injuries, diseases, and other mental or physical impairments. Doctors are also sometimes referred to as physicians and they may specialize in various fields of practice. Other areas of specialization include types of patients, methods of treatment, and categories of diseases. In that sense of specialization, they are referred to as specialist medical practitioners.

Medical practitioners may also specialize in providing continuous comprehensive health care services to individuals, communities, or families for an extended period of time. When they do that, they are referred to as general practitioners. The meaning of the word doctor or physician and the practitioners who practice medicine varies across the world, but they all maintain certain common elements. Different degree certificates are awarded to people who qualify to practice.

Physicians can specialize in one of the many sub-fields there are. Some of the sub-fields available include ophthalmology, endocrinology, anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and neurology. Physicians are required to accept patients, investigate medical conditions, give advice, and treat whenever they can. They also make referrals and treat patients using drugs, injections, or surgical procedures.

Physicians can find work in various places. Some prefer working in small offices and clinics whereas others go for large hospitals or group practices. Statistics reveal that in 2012, 700, 000 physicians were employed in the US including Mt. Sterling. Projections reveal that employment in this field will keep rising into 2022. This means that employment opportunities will be higher compared to the number of practitioners available for employment.

Normally, a doctor is required to spend many hours working every day. They spend over forty hours every week working on average. The 40 hours per week include hours they spend attending to emergencies they are called for at night. It is a common thing to see these practitioners working throughout the night. Holidays are available to some once or twice in a year. However, workers on holidays can always be called back to work if there is need for that.

Becoming a doctor is involving and normally requires one to go through a tertiary-level academic institution, a medical school. Education in tertiary level institution takes five to six years in most developed states before one graduates to enter the medicine career. Strict supervision is given to all graduates for a certain period of time before they can be registered to practice on their own. Full registration is granted after that. In the US, only practitioners who went through residencies can practice.

The achievement of the necessary academic qualifications leads to the process of becoming registered and acquiring a license to practice. The license received is normally valid in one country, but it is sometimes necessary for some practitioners to be licensed in several countries. Once licensed, the practitioner has the power to apply their knowledge on patients and practice freely.

To conclude, one of the most well-paying professions is medicine. The profession is respected in the American society and salaries are good too. Several credits have gone to medical practitioners for inventing some of the high technologies and medical procedures in use today.




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