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How old is the medical career in each country?

How old is the medical career in each country?

March 18, 2024

The medicine is one of the most popular and well-known health disciplines , requiring the services of competent professionals at all ages and at all stages of life in order to maintain physical health and treat the different diseases that we may suffer throughout life.

At the level of training, it is also one of the most demanding careers both at the level of access (the cut-off grade to study this degree is at least one of the highest) and at the level of time invested before becoming professional ( other careers also require ongoing training, but usually the title is obtained earlier).

The duration of this race is determined by a large number of variables, one of which is where it is studied. And it is that the structure and the conception of this race varies to a great extent in the different countries in which it courses. Thus, those who study medicine in a country can see how other colleagues need more or less years to finish their training depending on where it takes place. In this article let's see how many years are the medical career in each of the countries which have been chosen.


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Average years of medical career by country

Then we leave you with a brief comment regarding the duration of the training necessary to become a doctor in different countries.

1. Spain

In Spain, the medical career is certainly demanding. The university degree lasts for six years. And this is only the degree: If they want to practice in the public network, they must spend at least one year in the MIR system (internal resident doctor), to enter which must pass through a competitive examination (although about half of those who try every year get it) to graduate as a general practitioner.


In case they consider specializing, the duration increases several more years (between four and five depending on which). Total, a specialized doctor in our country will have gone through a training of around 10-11 years (although during the MIR they would already start charging, having a training contract).

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2. United States

In the United States, the formation of Medicine is especially long. In the first place it will be necessary to study during four years of "Bachelor's Degree" in which they have to take pre-medicine subjects. After that they have to study five years of general medicine, at a theoretical level, after which they have to spend two years of hospital residency. All this will serve to obtain the title of Medical Doctor , and if they would like to specialize they have to do a training of about two more years (and still two more if they want subspecializations).


3. United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the Medicine degree, as in Spain and other European countries, is six years of duration .

4. Cuba

In Cuba, the training to be a doctor would be made in a total of six years divided into semesters, with the exception of internship (or internships) that would last for a whole year . The professionals go through different services and units in order to visualize the different existing specialties.

5. Ecuador

To be a doctor in Ecuador, prospective applicants must go through a training period of five or six years, the first three being basic training, and from the fourth, being able to do internships in hospitals .

6. Mexico

In Mexico, the medical career usually lasts six years, although in universities in the north of the country the figure can rise to seven.

7. Peru

The career of Medicine in Peru lasts between seven and eight years on average to obtain the title of general medicine. It would be four years of degree and another four in a medical school. After that they can go on to study a specialization which can last up to three or four years.

8. Colombia

As in Mexico, in Colombia the training necessary to practice as a doctor lasts between six and seven years.

9. Argentina

In this country, the training at the grade level is made in a total of six years divided into three cycles. In the first (biomedical cycle) they focus on training at the level of human anatomy and biology, in a second cycle (clinical) Students receive knowledge about pathology, diagnosis and treatment (being something more clinical) and finally a period of rotation called rotational annual internship in which they perform real practices in hospitals.

10. South Africa

In this African country, studying medicine requires around five to six years of study. After that, it will be necessary to carry out two years of practice and one of service to the community in a rural environment. Later, different specialization formations can be made .


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