A doctor is a medical professional with specialty in the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of human health. They do the aforementioned through study, diagnosis, and treatment mental or physical impairments such as diseases and injuries. Doctors are also called physicians and they have several fields they can specialize in. Major areas of specialization are methods of treatment, categories of diseases, and types of patients. When they specialize in any of the categories named above, they go by the name specialist medical practitioners.

In addition to the specialties above, medicine practitioners can also specialize in providing communities, families, or individuals with continuous comprehensive medical services over a long time. General practitioner is the name for such practitioners. The word doctor and physicians varies from one country to another, but common elements are retained worldwide. There are different degree certificates for graduates of medical school.

Physicians can specialize in one of the many sub-fields there are. Some of the sub-fields available include ophthalmology, endocrinology, anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and neurology. Physicians are required to accept patients, investigate medical conditions, give advice, and treat whenever they can. They also make referrals and treat patients using drugs, injections, or surgical procedures.

Physicians can find work in various places. Some prefer working in small offices and clinics whereas others go for large hospitals or group practices. Statistics reveal that in 2012, 700, 000 physicians were employed in the US including Mt. Sterling. Projections reveal that employment in this field will keep rising into 2022. This means that employment opportunities will be higher compared to the number of practitioners available for employment.

Medical practitioners are required to work for long hours in a day. On average, a doctor works for more than forty hours in a week. The number of hours worked in a week includes emergency calls at night. It is also common to see these professionals working overnight. Holidays are available once or twice a year for some practitioners although they may also be recalled during emergencies.

To become a doctor is an involving experience. One has to graduate from a medical school first before entering the career to practice. Education in a medical school lasts between five to six years or more in many industrialized states. Strict supervision is necessary for fresh graduates until they are thought to be experienced enough to work without it. Full registration is only granted after the period of supervision has elapsed. Residencies are a mandatory requirement for all practitioners before they can practice.

The achievement of the necessary academic qualifications leads to the process of becoming registered and acquiring a license to practice. The license received is normally valid in one country, but it is sometimes necessary for some practitioners to be licensed in several countries. Once licensed, the practitioner has the power to apply their knowledge on patients and practice freely.

To conclude, one of the most well-paying professions is medicine. The profession is respected in the American society and salaries are good too. Several credits have gone to medical practitioners for inventing some of the high technologies and medical procedures in use today.