2. Doctors make people healthier. When people get sick, doctors figure out why. They give people medicine and other kinds of treatment. They also give advice about diet, exercise, and sleep. Doctors use science to figure out what is making people sick. Doctors examine people, listen to them describe their health problems, and do tests to see what is and general practitners are often the first doctors that people go to when they get sick. These doctors treat common problems. They also send patients to other doctors, called specialists. Specialists are experts in different types of health problems.
3. For example, internists focus on Doctors sometimes have to rush to the hospital to deal with emergencies.
4. For example, internists focus on problems with internal organs. Pediatricians care for children and babies. Surgeons perform operations, like fixing broken bones or transplanting organs. Most doctors are doctors of medicine (M.D.). They treat all kinds of diseases and injuries. Some doctors are doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.). They focus on muscles and bones. Many doctors work long hours, at all times of day and night. Over one-third of physicians worked more than 60 hours a week in 2004. But doctors who work in small offices often have more time off. Doctors sometimes have to rush to the hospital to deal with emergencies.
5. Becoming a doctor requires more training than most other jobs. It usually takes at least 11 years to become a doctor: 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 3 years working in a hospital. For some specialties, doctors may have to work in a hospital for up to 8 years before they are trained. To become a doctor, you should study biology, chemistry, physics, math, and English.
6. Of all jobs, being a doctor usually pays the most money. The Medical Group Management Association's Physician Compensation and Production Survey says that most doctors earned between $132,953 and $321,686 in 2005. How much they earned depended on how long they had been doctors and where they lived. It also depended on how many hours they worked and how good a doctor they were. And it depended on what kind of doctor they were—specialists usually made more than general practitioners.
