Doctor of Medicine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or MD, from the Latin Medicinæ Doctor) is an academic degree for medical doctors. It varies between countries, from being an entry-level professional degree that many doctors hold, to being a relatively rare higher doctoral research degree that very few doctors hold.
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[edit] Degree variations
[edit] Canada and United States
In the United States, the M.D. is one of two basic medical degrees, either of which is required to practice medicine, the other being the D.O. degree (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). In Canada, the M.D. is the basic medical degree required to practice medicine; as well, in most provinces, the provincial college of physicians and surgeons grants practice rights to American-trained osteopathic physicians. There are no institutions in Canada that offer D.O. or comparable degrees; however, there are schools that train health practitioners in classical osteopathy.[1]
Medical degrees are professional degrees and are distinct from research doctorates (Doctor of Philosophy, or Ph.D.), which require a graduate thesis (doctoral dissertation). In other words, an M.D. is not equivalent to a Ph.D. in medicine.
Accredited medical schools almost always require a previous bachelor's degree. The M.D. is typically earned in four years. At most medical schools, the first two years primarily involve classroom instruction in both lecture and laboratory formats while the final two years are comprised of a series of clerkships in clinical departments such as family practice, surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, and obstetrics/gynecology. Following the awarding of the M.D., physicians who wish to practice in the United States are required to undergo additional training in the form of a residency. Depending upon the physician's chosen field, residencies involve an additional two to seven years of training after obtaining the M.D.
The title is the entry-level medical degree equivalent in most professional respects to the Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery, awarded in Commonwealth countries excluding Canada. Graduates are nonetheless still refered to as "Doctor".
The abbreviation "M.D." is frequently used post-nominally in the US, being put after the name as a title; however, it is also used on its own in informal writing, as an abbreviation for "[medical] doctor."
[edit] Commonwealth countries excluding Canada
In the United Kingdom and many other Commonwealth countries, the M.D. is a higher doctoral degree reserved for those who have contributed significantly to the academic study of medicine and surgery, respectively. An M.D. typically involves either a number of publications or a thesis, and is examined in a similar fashion to a Ph.D degree.
The entry-level professional degrees in these countries are the Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery, earned with typically five to six years of studies and training at university. A four-year course has recently been implemented by 14 universities which can only be entered with a previously completed degree. There is also an advanced professional degree, the Master of Surgery (M.Ch. or Ch.M.), obtained after an M.D.
[edit] Northern Europe
In Norway and Denmark the entry-level professional degree is the candidate degree, candidatus/candidata medicinæ, which is obtained after six to seven years of study. The doctor medicinæ (dr. med.) degree is a research degree for those who have held a doctoral dissertation, and is considered even better than the PhD degree. The dr. med. degree formally qualifies for a full university professorship. Many people are in the middle of their career when they obtain the dr. med. degree.
The usual way of obtaining the dr. med. degree is publishing three to five (usually four) scientific articles which substantially contribute to new knowledge in international peer-reviewed medical journals. Four years of high-level research is the standard. A dissertation will also consist of a summary, and the doktorand will publicly defend his dissertation in a disputas and give an additional lecture (often on a quite complicated topic) to prove he is capable of teaching students. Many doktorands are research fellows (stipendiat) whose responsibilities include teaching students while working on their dissertation.
In Finland, physicians hold the degree of Licenciate in Medicine, and as in the UK, the Doctor of Medicine (lääketieteen tohtori) is a higher degree reserved for those who have held a doctoral dissertation.
[edit] Western Europe
In Germany a physician graduates with a final examination which can be compared with the M.D. In former East Germany physicians graduated with a diploma (Dipl.-Med.). Only after some research work students can apply for a doctoral degree in medicine (Dr. med.). Unlike other doctorate degrees in Germany, the research and work is normally done while still studying at the university. A large number of the physicians have a Dr. med. degree. Those who want to pursue an academic career may take the Habilitation. The German Dr. med. degree should not be confused with the Scandinavian degree with the same name.
In The Netherlands physicians used to graduate as a doctorandus (title: Drs.); this title is used as well in Indonesia after their colonisation of The Netherlands. Since 2002 it is also possible to graduate as a Master of Science, following the English graduation staves. Still, most doctors in the Netherlands are titled as 'Drs.' (after graduation), or as 'Dr.' (academic degree), if they did research to accomplish the formal title of 'Doctor'. The Dutch words for Doctor are Dokter (pl. Dokters, when talking about medicians), and "Doctor" (pl. Doctoren, as academic title) something that is most confusing for academics.
[edit] India
The post-graduate degree in India requires extensive training in a specialised medical field along with doctoral level research, leading to the publication of a thesis. The level of these post-graduate MD/MS degree comes higher, after completing an MBBS degree (graduating) from a medical college or institute. The Doctor of Medicine (MD) is awarded in medical disciplines (medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry etc.) while the Master of Surgery (MS) degree is awarded for a similar training in surgical disciplines. There are certain exceptions to the rule: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, awards its own degrees—an MD in Ophthalmology and an MD in Obstetrics an Gynecology—although these are categorised under surgical disciplines.
[edit] See also
fr:Doctorat en médecine nl:Doctor of Medicine no:Doctor medicinæ ja:博士 (医学) sk:Doktor medicíny sv:Medicine doktor zh:医学博士
