Medical degree
A medical degree is a vocational or technical degree awarded for studies in fields associated with medicine and/or surgery. Doctors also need a PhD, an MBBS or other degrees. A worldwide study conducted in 2011 indicated on average: 64 university exams, 130 series exams, and 174 assignments are completed over the course of 5.5 years. As a baseline, students need greater than an 85% in prerequisite courses to enroll for the aptitude test in these degree programs.[1]
Primary medical degrees
In many jurisdictions, individuals require a medical degree to register for a licence and legally practice. This is known as a primary medical qualification,[2][3] or the primary qualification.[4] Such degrees include:
- Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, BMBS, MBChB, MBBCh)
- Doctor of Medicine (MD, Dr.MuD, Dr.Med)
- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)
Higher medical degrees
Some doctors who hold a primary qualification will continue academic study, pursuing degrees such as:[5]
- Doctor of Medicine by research (MD(Res), DM)
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil)
Other degrees include:
- Master of Clinical Medicine (MCM)
- Master of Medical Science (MMSc, MMedSc)
- Master of Medicine (MM, MMed)
- Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
- Master of Surgery (MS, MSurg, MChir, MCh, ChM, CM)
- Master of Science in Medicine or Surgery (MSc)
- Doctor of Clinical Medicine (DCM)
- Doctor of Clinical Surgery (DClinSurg)
- Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc, DMedSc)
- Doctor of Surgery (DS, DSurg)
References
- BMJ — 13 August 2011, Volume 343, Number 7819
- "Acceptable overseas medical qualifications". General Medical Council. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- "Acceptable primary medical qualifications". Medical Council of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- "Singapore Medical Council. List of Registrable Basic Medical Qualifications" (PDF). Singapore Medical Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- Armstrong, Kathryn; Molloy, E J (29 Jun 2011). "Doing a higher medical degree". Careers. BMJ. 342: d3792. doi:10.1136/bmj.d3792.