How Long Does It Really Take to Become a Physician? A Breakdown of the Process
So What Is the Process to Becoming a Physician?
Becoming a doctor is a long and demanding process—one that takes many years of education, training, and perseverance. Here’s a general breakdown of the traditional path:
12 years of primary and secondary schooling
4 years of college (undergraduate degree)
4 years of medical school (MD or DO degree)
Typically, the first two years are classroom-based, focused on foundational medical knowledge
The final two years involve clinical rotations in hospitals and outpatient clinics
3–5 years of residency training
Residency is when medical school graduates train under senior physicians in the specialty they matched into. It’s similar to an apprenticeship. For example, psychiatry residents focus solely on psychiatry, while surgical residents gain hands-on experience performing and managing surgical care under supervision.
1–3 years of fellowship (optional, for subspecialty training depending on the field)
So, total education and training can span anywhere from 13 to 20+ years.
Only after all that does someone finally become a fully trained, practicing physician.
In my case, the timeline has been a bit longer—and that’s not unusual. Many premed and med students take gap years for personal growth, professional experience, or other pursuits. Here’s what my path has looked like so far:
2 gap years between high school and college, during which I played junior hockey and was eventually recruited to play at the collegiate level
1 gap year between college and medical school, where I worked as a medical scribe to gain clinical experience
1 dedicated research year between my third and fourth year of medical school, which I’m currently wrapping up
So yeah… the school and learning truly never end.
As you can imagine, both my wife and I are very much looking forward to residency—not just because I’ll finally be getting paid instead of paying tuition, but because it feels like another big step forward in this journey.
A Quick Look at Medical School vs. Residency Applications
I’ll eventually write a more detailed post about applying to medical school, but here’s a quick breakdown to help clarify the process:
Medical school applications are somewhat similar to applying to college. Schools consider your undergraduate GPA, extracurriculars, volunteer and research experience, and your MCAT score—a standardized test like the SAT or ACT, but for med school. The MCAT is often used to filter applicants, with schools prioritizing those who score above a certain percentile. If you’re accepted to multiple schools, you get to choose where to attend.
Residency applications, on the other hand, operate more like a professional matching system. During the fourth year of medical school, students choose a specialty—family medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, orthopedics, dermatology, neurosurgery, and others—and apply to programs in that field.
The average number of residency applications submitted per student varies by specialty, but it can be 50–80+ applications for competitive fields. So, many students truly don’t know where they might end up. Specialties like orthopedic surgery, dermatology, plastic surgery, and neurosurgery are especially competitive, with far more applicants than available spots.
Rather than selecting from offers, applicants and programs rank each other, and a computer algorithm matches each applicant to one program based on those rankings. It’s a strategic pairing system—and the outcome is binding.
What is Match Week?
Match Week is one of the most emotional and defining weeks of a med student’s journey.
Monday: Students find out if they matched—meaning, whether or not they secured a residency position. This can be especially stressful for those who applied to more than one specialty or chose a competitive field.
Tuesday–Thursday: Students who didn’t match enter the SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program)—a three-day sprint where they apply to and interview with programs that still have unfilled spots.
Friday: The big reveal. Every student who matched learns where they matched and in which specialty. It’s a moment filled with emotion, relief, celebration, and reflection.
The Real Sacrifices
There are real, often unseen sacrifices that come with this journey.
You give up a lot of control over your schedule. You live off loans while many of your peers are settling into full-time jobs, saving to buy homes, or already homeowners. You miss bachelor parties, weddings, birthdays, and family trips—not because you don’t want to be there, but because exams, clinical rotations, or call shifts don’t pause for social calendars. The pressure, time, and financial burden are real—and they add up.
But There’s Also Purpose
Even with all those sacrifices, the journey can be deeply meaningful.
Some of the most fulfilling moments in med school haven’t been about textbooks or exams—they’ve been about the people. Sitting with a patient in pain, walking a family through a diagnosis, being part of a surgical team that helps someone walk again—those are the moments that remind me why I chose this path. It’s those moments that make all the missed parties and long nights worth it.
Final Thoughts
I hope this post gave you a glimpse into what it takes to become a physician. Whether you’re considering medicine yourself or just curious about what your med student friend is going through, hopefully this sheds some light on the process.
It’s a long road. It’s hard. But if you are pursuing it for the right reasons, it can also be incredibly special.
Thanks for following along! Feel free to leave a comment about what you’d like to hear about in the next blog post!
-NG
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