I have another question for my latest story. If a person goes to medical school, etc., and then, during his residency, drops out, is he a doctor?

And if he is a doctor, and yet never practices medicine again or anything else, is he still a doctor?

Thanks,

ML

Jill can correct me if I am wrong about this, butI was under the impression that you got your actual medical degree after you graduate from medical school. Then you have to pass tests (boards I think) in your internship and residency to be able to legally practice medicine. However, I think in the condition you present, you still are a doctor because you do have the MD degree, you just aren't legally able to practice medicine.

- Laura

I don't have first hand knowledge of this either -- oh, Jill! -- but my understanding was that you could be called "doctor" once you graduated from medical school. You've done your rotations, taken all your classes and passed your tests, so once you graduate, you are officially a doctor.

Residency is where you learn your speciality in greater detail, so maybe you won't be employable if you don't finish that part of things, but residents *are* doctors and thus legally able to treat patients.

As for whether you are still a doctor if you stop practicing, my guess is that you have to keep up your certification. A medical license can be revoked (for ethics violations, for example) so it makes sense that you need to do something, even if it's just paperwork, to keep it current.

Oh, yes, and I believe that you need to be certified in each state in order to practice there. So a doctor could have their license revoked in one state for some sort of violation, yet move to another state and practice there. How legal that is, I don't know, but I have heard of bad doctors doing things like that.

Kathy

I'm fairly certain that residents are only legally able to treat patients UNDER SUPERVISION, not independently. That's why you never see a resident opening an independent practice. I don't think you qualify for a medical license (in any state in the US, AFAIK) until you have completed residency. Residents have an M.D.; they do not have a medical license, I believe.

*checks with CA medical board website* Yup. See, you have to have proof not only that you graduated med school, but also of postgraduate training -- including, apparently, at least 4 months worth of "General Medicine" training. I guess the rest is dependent upon the applicant's chosen field?


Medical licenses are indeed good only in one state; if you move elsewhere and try to get a license, the local medical board is supposed to check with previous states. But some well-publicized cases make it clear that that doesn't always happen.

What I was trying to say is that you do have the degree so people will call you doctor, but you do not have the training so you aren't licensed, so you can't practice at all. But you are still a doctor because you have a degree.

- Laura

My only role here is to verify what others have said...and possibly be a little silly as I have had a total of 11 hours of sleep in the last 3 days.
Once you graduate medical school, you have your medical degree and are therefore, technically a doctor. But as a resident, you are supervised by other more senior residents and attendings...and thank god! There's no way that someone just coming out of medical school has enough practical knowledge to just say 'yep, I'm a doctor, let me treat you now'. I'd trust a third year resident to treat me appropriately, but probably not a first year unsupervised...and for surgery, no way am I going below a fourth or fifth year resident.

In order to actually legally practice medicine you have to take 3 steps worth of board exams (one of which I've taken, at the end of 2nd year med school, next will be mid-4th year, and the 3rd will be during my 2nd or 3rd year of residency). You have to pass those to be licensed in a state to practice medicine.

So, technically, you could be called a doctor and have an MD and all, but still not be legally allowed to practice.

And as far as 4 months of "General Medicine" goes, that only becomes an issue if you're going into something weirdly specialized...like Anesthesia or something. Anesthesiologists are required to do a year of General Medicine training before starting the Anesthesia part. But General Medicine includes Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, etc... even the surgery residents just spend their first year taking care of the patients on the floor after surgery instead of in the OR.

And if someone is a doctor, graduates and the whole shebang, even if they never practice, they still get to keep those fun MDs behind their name and are therefore still called doctor...if that's their preference. Personally I'm going to either stick with "Hey you!" or "The Great and Powerful Oz". :p

Going to sleep now,
Jill

P.S. Don't ever go the hospital during the first week of July. The new residents have just been set loose and usually don't even know where the scrub machines are much less how to treat anyone. <g>

Thanks for all the information. It was a big help. I've changed my story accordingly

ML