Medical degrees vary significantly in different countries.
The most obvious difference is that while in countries like the UK and Australia it’s possible to enroll on a medical degree as soon as you leave secondary school, in the US and Canada medicine is only available as a graduate degree – meaning applicants need to complete between two and four years of undergraduate study first.
Studying medicine in the US or Canada
As mentioned, medical degrees are only available at graduate level in the US. Before you can apply to medical school, you need to complete four years of pre-med undergraduate study. For most students, this will be in a science subject such as biology or chemistry, but it can be any subject.
However, all students preparing for medical school are required to take courses in biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry, and some schools may also require you to take courses in a humanities subject such as English.
The requirements are set by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and individual medical schools may also have additional requirements, which you can find in the most recent version of the AAMC’s Medical School Admission Requirements guide.
Medical schools in the US also require students to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), and most can be applied to through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). Regardless of the number of medical schools you apply to, you submit just one online application to AMCAS.
Once you’ve secured a place at medical school, you’ll study for a further four years to gain either a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) or Doctor of Medicine (D.M.). Before you can become a licensed doctor, you’ll need to pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), a three-step exam.
Both of the D.O and D.M titles qualify you to start practising medicine. However, you’ll then be required to complete a residency training program, which could last anywhere between three and seven years depending on your field of specialization. It’s likely that, even after this, you’ll continue to pursue further training in your field, through highly specialized training programs known as fellowships.
The system is largely the same in Canada, with prospective medical students again required to sit the MCAT to gain admission. Some universities offer fast-track medical degree programs which shorten the course to three years rather than the usual four or five. Courses are five years long for students who need to take a one-year preparatory course (if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree in a science subject).
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