Professional Health Care Career Path: Physician

About this field

This professional health care career path requires an advanced degree beyond the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences.

Physicians diagnose and treat injuries or illnesses. They are responsible for examining patients through the use of patient and family medical histories, diagnostic tests, and other special testing. Physicians may treat patients with the use of prescribed medications, as well as, counseling on diet and exercise. Surgeons perform operations on patients to treat injuries and illnesses. Physicians typically specialize in particular areas (orthopedics, family practice, neurology, gastroenterology, etc.). Medical school can take up to 10-15 years depending upon specialty to complete schooling, internships, and residencies.

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Degree Requirement

Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited program or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree from a Commission on Osteopathic College Association (COCA) accredited program.

Typical Prerequisites Needed for Admissions to a MD or DO program

• 1 year of general biology course with lab
• 1 year of general or inorganic chemistry courses with labs
• 1 year of organic chemistry courses with labs
• 1 year of general physics courses with labs
• 1 semester of statistics
• 1 year of English 
• 18 semester hours of humanities and social and/or behavioral sciences

NOTE: Students are strongly encouraged to determine the exact MD and DO prerequisites for a program by visiting that program’s website. The links provided below shows all accredited MD and DO degree programs.

LCME Accredited MD Degree Programs.

COCA Accredited DO Degree Programs.

Why choose Health Sciences as a bachelor’s degree?

In addition to offering a strong background in orthopedic injuries and medical illness assessment, the Health Sciences degree also provides a great degree of flexibility in course options for the student. Courses with content such as musculoskeletal evaluation, therapeutic interventions, kinesiology, and medical disease and illness provide the student with a strong foundation for medical school. The degree offers flexibility by allowing the student to take 9 hours outside of the health science area. When combined with core requirements, students should be able to meet all the typical prerequisites required of the average MD or DO degree program.