Physician
Career Description
Physicians diagnose, treat and work to prevent human illness, disease or injury. They perform many functions including, but not limited to, patient examinations, analyses of patient histories and interpretation of diagnostic tests. Physicians use accepted methods of medical treatment, including pharmaceutical agents and surgical procedures.
Physicians may specialize in many areas of medicine. The most common specialties include the following.
- allergists and immunologists (allergies)
- anesthesiologists (administer anesthetics)
- cardiologists (heart diseases)
- dermatologists (hair, skin and nails)
- emergency medicine
- endocrinologists (diabetes and other gland disorders)
- family medicine (comprehensive health of the family)
- gastroenterologists (diseases of the digestive tract, liver and pancreas)
- geriatric medicine (treatment of the elderly)
- hematologists and oncologists (diseases of the blood and cancer)
- infectious diseases
- internists (medical treatment of adults)
- nephrologists (hypertension and kidney diseases)
- neurologists (diseases associated with the nervous system)
- obstetricians and gynecologists (women’s health before, during and after pregnancy)
- ophthalmologists (eye diseases)
- otolaryngologists (face and neck)
- pathologists (laboratory)
- pediatricians (birth through teenage years)
- physiatrists (physical medicine and rehabilitation)
- podiatrists (foot disorders)
- psychiatrists (mental illness)
- radiologists (X-rays and diagnostic tests)
- reproductive endocrinologists (female endocrine glands)
- surgeons
- urologists (urinary tract)
Academic Requirements
Students seeking a medical degree usually obtain a bachelor’s degree and must submit Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, along with transcripts from undergraduate institutions. Competition is fierce for admission to the 125 allopathic medical schools in the United States, where a four-year curriculum is followed by a three- to eight-year residency, depending on the physician’s area of specialization. Physicians are licensed by the state after passing an examination.
Schools
Saint Louis University
800/SLU-FORU
Washington University
800/638-0700
Professional Associations
National
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
American Medical Association
American Osteopathic Association
Association of American Medical Colleges
State
Missouri Association for Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons
Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts
Missouri State Medical Association
St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society
