MEDICAL

What it takes to be a doctor?

DOCTOR
 What it takes
to be a doctor?
People often know at a young age that they want to become doctors.
Perhaps they are naturally good at math and science. Maybe they
have a desire to help people and to make a difference in people’s
lives. Or, they may just want a job that is full of challenges. These
are all very good reasons to consider a medical career. However,
anyone who wants to become a doctor must understand how much
work it takes to achieve that goal.

About doctors Services

What is a doctor? 1 Primary Care 2
Timeline Process
Steps to take
Medical History 3 4
Salary Short video
Give a subtitle 5 A day in the life 6
 About Doctors
Doctors are often called “life saviors.” As medical professionals, they diagnose patients and prescribe the
appropriate treatment for their ailments. Without medical intervention, many patients would suffer
gravely. With the growing advancement in medical technology, the work of doctors has become more
efficient and able to tackle illnesses that come their way. With a very demanding job, they work around
the clock to treat patients to save lives. They put their life on the line and treat even the most life-
threatening diseases.

What is a doctor? What do they do? What is their

A doctor is someone who maintains He or she faces the challenge of There areworkplace?
many workplaces available
or restores human health through the diagnosing and treating human for doctors. Some start working at an
practice of medicine. disease, ailments, injuries, pain or existing practice while others open their
other conditions. own practice.

Back.
Primary Care
In defining primary care, it is
necessary to describe the nature of
services provided to patients, as well #1. Primary Care #2. Primary Care
as to identify who are the primary care Primary care is that care provided by
physicians specifically trained for and skilled Practice
A primary care practice serves as the patient's
first point of entry into the health care system
providers. The domain of primary care in comprehensive first contact and and as the continuing focal point for all
includes the primary care physician, continuing care for persons with any
undiagnosed sign, symptom, or health
needed health care services.

other physicians who include some concern.

primary care services in their #3. Primary Care #4. Non-Primary Care
practices, and some non-physician Physician Physicians who are not trained in the
primary care specialties of family
providers. However, central to the A primary care physician is a specialist in medicine, general internal medicine, or
Family Medicine, Internal Medicine or general pediatrics may sometimes provide
concept of primary care is the patient. Paediatrics who provides definitive care to patient care services that are usually
the undifferentiated patient at the point of
Therefore, such definitions are first contact, and takes continuing
delivered by primary care physicians.

incomplete without including a responsibility for providing the patient's

comprehensive care. 
description of the primary care Back.
practice.
 History of Medical Timeline
The earliest medical prescriptions appear in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur
( c. 2112 BC – c. 2004 BC). The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old
Babylonian period in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE.

2600 BC The Egyptian Imhotep

describes the diagnosis and
treatment of 200 diseases
01
1489 Leonardo da Vinci dissects
02 corpses

1879 First vaccine developed for

cholera 03
04 2006 First vaccine to target a
cause of cancer
Back.
 Process
This article has been reviewed and edited by Hanna Grace Lucero, M.D., a
graduate of Manila Central University College of Medicine. 
Prepare as early as Take a gap year
high school (optional)
If you want to be a doctor or any medical Let’s say you’ve just graduated from
professional in the future, the Science, college. At this point, you should already
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics have a clear idea of whether taking
(STEM) Strand is your best option. Medicine is the right career path from you.

STAR 01
02
Get into college
03
04
Choose your target

T
After graduating from high
school, you can either take the
medical school
“fast track” or “slow/standard If you’ve already weighed the pros and
track” to get that dream Doctor cons of taking up Medicine and there’s
of Medicine (MD) degree. The nothing stopping you from doing so, it’s
“fast track” allows you to get the time to look for a medical school.
degree in a relatively shorter Here’s an updated 
time. list of all medical schools in the Philippi
nes. 
Ace the NMAT Survive medical school
Before you can enroll in any medical school The moment you enroll in a medical school, everything
in the Philippines, you need to take and pass becomes a level playing field. It doesn’t matter if you
the National Medical Admission Test took Engineering or Biology in college; everyone is
(NMAT). starting from zero. In the Philippines, the Doctor of
It’s an aptitude exam that measures your Medicine degree is a five-year graduate program that
readiness to handle the grueling academic will build your foundation as a future doctor.
demands of medical schools.

05 07

06
Apply to your chosen
END Ooops, not yet. It
won’t end there.
medical school
If your aim is to be
qualified in one of the top
10 medical schools listed in
the previous section, then
acing the NMAT is only the
beginning.
 Pass the Physician Get into fellowship
Licensure Examination training
A graduate of a “Doctor of Medicine” program When you’re done with your residency
can’t work without a license to practice. And to training, you have two choices: either
get this license, he/she must pass the physician work and start earning money or spend
licensure exam given twice a year (usually a few more years to pursue a
March and September). subspecialty (also known as
fellowship).

08 10
09
STAR Undergo medical
residency training
After getting their licenses, most new doctors in the
END
T
Philippines opt to go through a residency training
program to further their careers. If you don’t like to
take this path, you can establish private practice
right away to work as a general practitioner.
Companies also hire general practitioners6 and pay
them fixed monthly salaries to work in various
settings like hotels, schools, clinics, etc.
Back.
 Salary
The average salary for a Physician is Php 41,066 per month in
the Philippines. Salary estimates are based on 48 salaries submitted
anonymously to Indeed by Physician employees, users, and
collected from past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the
past 36 months. The typical tenure for a Physician is 1-3 years.

Government Hospitals
Philippines' residents in
public hospitals can get as much as PHP
20,000-25,000 (USD 402 - 503) per month,
plus bonuses that are given out to
all government employees.

Private Hospitals
Some are also employed by hospitals where they
refer to their patients. Those who work
in hospitals get a monthly pay of Php 20,000 to Php
35,000.
Back.
 Watch What
Doctors Do
Well, the eight or more hours of work are all
about back-to-back meetings.  A doctor’s bread
and butter is seeing patients, and each
appointment is essentially a meeting with a
client.  You check the details of the case, try
and get a sense of what’s going on, and then
figure out the medicines–often trying to do this
within a half hour.
INTERESTED KNOW MORE

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 THANK
“You [future doctors] are off to an amazing, rewarding and exciting life.”

YOU
― Major W. Bradshaw, MD via Baylor College of Medicine