How long does it take to become a doctor? Hi! Welcome to Curious Kids Everyday. I'm Josh. How are you doing today? It's so good to hear from you. Hey, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a doctor? Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up? Becoming a doctor means doing a lot of studying, years of studying. You have to know a lot to be a doctor. People are going to walk into your office every day. Each one is going to expect you to know exactly what to do to help him or her. What do you think it's like to be a doctor? Have you ever wondered how long does it take to become a doctor? Probably a long time, huh? Well, I've got the answer. Let's figure it out today. Now, in the United States, the country I live in, it often takes around 11 years or more after high school to become a doctor who can practice on their own. Yep, at least 11 years! Are you 11 years old? Because if you're not, that means that if you had started studying to become a doctor on the day you were born, you still wouldn't be a doctor yet. So here's how it works. First, a person finishes high school. That means they've completed all 12 grades of school. After that, future doctors go to college for about four years. And in college, they often study subjects like biology or chemistry or chemistry. Or physics or math. Things that come in handy when you want to become a doctor. And after college comes medical school, which usually takes four more years. Medical school is where students learn much more about sickness and injuries and medicine and the different parts of the body. They learn about the heart and the lungs and the brain and the bones and the skin and the blood and a whole lot more. And they also begin training in real hospitals and clinics so they can learn from actual patients and experienced doctors. Being a doctor is a job where you need a lot of experience before doing it on your own. You need to talk to other doctors to understand exactly how to do the job. And you need to have interactions with other doctors' patients so that you know what to expect when you have patients one day. And you need to have a lot of experience before doing it on your own. But even after medical school, you're still not done. Next comes something called residency. Can you say residency? Residency is special job training for new doctors. They work in hospitals or clinics while continuing to learn. Now this part usually lasts about three to seven years depending on what kind of doctor they want to become. For example, a doctor who works with children may train for fewer years than a doctor who does a very specialized kind of surgery. There are all kinds of different doctors. A surgeon is a doctor who performs operations on the body. A pediatrician is a doctor who takes care of children. A dermatologist is a doctor who treats skin. All these different types of jobs need different amounts of training. And even after all that, doctors still keep learning. Medicine changes over time. New treatments are discovered. New tools are invented. New studies are released. So doctors read and study and ask questions and keep practicing throughout their entire careers. If you graduated high school at the age of 18, you could become a doctor before you turned 30. But just barely. And that's assuming you became the kind of doctor where you only needed three years of residency. It could be even longer depending on what kind of doctor you wanted to become. But in general, it takes about 11 years. So the next time you see your doctor, you should ask them, how long did it take you to become a doctor? It's a lot of dedicated years to do it. And I'm so grateful for the people willing to put in the work so that we can all stay healthy. All right, let's have a quick quiz. In the United States, about how many years does it often take after high school to become a doctor who can practice on their own? It's around 11 years or more. And what is the special training period after medical school called? It's called residency. And what do you call a doctor who takes care of children? That is a pediatrician. Let's play through our first quiz. Let's play true or false. True or false. Doctors usually finish all of their training just a year or two after high school. No, that is false. Takes much longer than that. True or false. Medical school often comes after college. Yep, that's true. True or false. Doctors stop learning once they finish their training. No, that's false. A good doctor is always learning. Would you rather be a surgeon who operates on people or a veterinarian, which is someone who takes care of animals? Both of these sound like really tough jobs, but if I could snap my fingers and just automatically know how to do one of these jobs, I would definitely pick being a surgeon who operates on people. The one time I had to have surgery, I was just so grateful to the doctor who performed the surgery. I told him, thank you, thank you, thank you, over and over again. I was just so amazed that he was able to fix my finger when it had gotten hurt. All right, let's play what am I? What am I? Doctors use me to listen. I can help the doctor hear your heartbeat or breathing. And I usually hang around a doctor's neck. What am I? I am the stethoscope. Becoming a doctor takes a long time, at least in places like where I live in the United States. First comes high school, then college, the medical school, then residency. That's a lot of learning. And the learning never stops. But when you think about how much doctors need to know, it really makes sense. They are helping people solve important problems in their bodies, and that takes a lot of skill and a lot of training and a lot, a lot, a lot of practice. If you want to be a doctor someday, you can start learning right now. Who says you have to wait until college? Learn as much as you can while you're young, and it'll make those 11 years of school that you have to do later a lot easier. What kind of question do you think we'll ask tomorrow on curious kids every day? I can't wait to find out, so until then, keep asking questions and stay curious kids. And we've got a bunch of birthdays today. Today is Jack's birthday. Jack is from Missouri and Jack is turning five. Happy birthday Jack. McKinley is from Washington and McKinley is turning seven. Happy birthday McKinley. Owen is from Colorado and Owen is turning six. Happy birthday Owen. Emerson is from Mississippi and Emerson is turning five. Happy birthday Emerson. Meadow is from Montana and Meadow is turning six. Happy birthday Meadow. Shepherd is from Los Angeles and Shepherd is turning five. Happy birthday Shepherd. Leah is from Florida and Leah is turning five. Happy birthday Leah. Marley is from Louisiana and Marley is turning nine. Happy birthday Marley. Ethan is from New Jersey and Ethan is turning seven. Happy birthday Ethan. Weston is from Arizona and Weston is turning seven. Happy birthday Weston. And it's Valerie's birthday too. Valerie is from Indiana. Happy birthday Valerie. Wyatt is from California and Wyatt is turning four. Happy birthday Wyatt. And Ned is from England and Ned is turning four. Happy birthday Ned. To all the grown-ups listening, if you're a curious kid once they're birthday mentioned on the show, please visit supportcuriouskids.com and join the Curious Kids Club. That's supportcuriouskids.com. See you tomorrow.
