This blog, Like Mother, Like Doctor, was created in response to questions asked by Talking Science’s 2009 summer intern, Rosie Washington. Her project: to search for answers to her dreams. She contacted me after reading my blog and with help from executive producer, Ann Marie Cunningham, and the essential input of my daughter Dana Greenfield, this blog was born!

So while Dana is off with younger sister Becca exploring the beauty of Big Sur, CA, during their winter break, I will tackle the first of the many great questions Rosie asked.

“How long is it to the step where you can finally say that you are a doctor?” Hard question. The answer starts with “it depends.” When is someone really a doctor?

Becoming a doctor is a process. A long process, which doesn’t really ever end until you stop caring for patients.

It can begin in high school, college or even later on. There is no one route to get there. But for the purposes of answering this one question, let’s look at the straight and narrow path to becoming a doctor.

Start with graduating high school. Take challenging courses. Get good grades. Learn to study and take tests. Find other interests. Take care of yourself and the important relationships in life. Takes about 4 years.

Go to college. The best one for you. Sometimes people don’t want to leave their family to go to a “top-rated” school or they don’t have the money, or the grades. Don’t let that stop you! Find the best fit and do your very best. Find your academic interests (may not be science, but you still have your pre-meds). Take challenging courses. Get good grades. Learn to study and to write well. Learn to take tests. Build on your outside interests. And take good care of yourself, your family and your friends. (College is usually four years, but there are some programs which combine college and medical school in 6 years.)

Go to medical school. There is no one “best” school. Medical school is almost always 4 years in length, unless you pursue a PhD in the biological sciences or, more often now, in the social sciences (like Dana who is also getting a PhD in medical anthropology).

At the end of medical school you are allowed to call yourself a doctor. The title of MD (medical doctor) or DO (doctor of osteopathy) is appended to your name. Does that make you a doctor? Well, it depends on what you want to do.

If you want to go into related fields where an MD or DO is helpful and your primary job is not one-on-one patient contact, then you have become a doctor. One of my medical school classmates works in research designing clinical trials. He never “touches” a patient but his valuable work truly touches the lives of many patients by providing information helpful to thousands of people.

But if you are like most people who travel the first 12 years, you want to take care of patients. How long? It depends on your field of medicine.

The day I graduated medical school, Dr. David Wagner, pediatric surgeon and director of emergency medicine, “hooded” our class. As I accepted the white fur cowl bestowed on one who earns the MD degree, he said to me, “You will live, eat and breathe medicine for the next 5 years. Learn everything you can about diseases and everything you can about the people who will suffer from those diseases.” Great advice that I took very much to heart.

Now you become a resident. You make the most of every patient encounter. You learn all kinds of skills, study hard and work long hours. The patients become your teachers while you are closely supervised by more experienced doctors.

Your formal training is over. It is 3 or 5 or sometimes even 9 years later. You can finally go out into the world and show people that you have learned and earned what it takes to be called a doctor, a healer. Sound daunting. It is. But it goes very fast. Be propelled by how exciting and important your life’s work is to you and for everyone who will help.

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