Becoming a doctor : in a nutshell
Qualifications
Entry to medical school…
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Good GCSE’s
Three A Levels
Entry requirements vary between
medical schools
Medicine as a second degree
Foundation course for students without
a science background
Personal Attributes
Doctors must be able to…
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Listen to their patients’ views and
respect their rights
Be honest and trustworthy
Work effectively with other healthcare
professionals
Act with competence, compassion,
responsibility and integrity
Career Path
Undergraduate education
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Medical degree (usually 5 years)
Postgraduate education
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Foundation Year 1
Foundation Year 2
Specialty and general practice
training
(between 3 & 8 years)
Continuing professional
development
Types of doctors
General Practitioners (GPs)
Generally the first point of contact for patients.
Their main responsibility is to assess a
patient’s health and make an appropriate
diagnosis
Hospital Doctors
This group of doctors work in hospitals and
can specialise in a range of different areas of
medicine including surgery, psychiatry,
paediatrics, anaesthesia and general medicine
Other
Doctors can work in a range of other settings
including in the armed forces, for the police or
at a medical school
For more detailed information, please see the full version of the
‘Becoming a Doctor’ guide on the BMA website:
www.bma.org.uk/careers/becoming_doctor
If you have any further queries, please contact the BMA
Science and Education department info.science@bma.org.uk