how many years of college must you have to be a surgeon? or an assisstant nurse?

Question

it's just that i want to be either of those. i like operations. (no offense to those opposed to it)

Answer 1

Gremlin, above, undersells the process.

In the United States, medical school is something that you can apply to when you have obtained an undergraduate degree and fulfilled a series of medical school prerequisites. Unless you focus on the prereqs as a portion of your college major, these will add to the amount of time you'd need to spend in college. Many people who complete college and premedical prerequisites are spending more than 4 years.

Medical school in the US is a 4 year effort. It doesn't change. It's not like college where you schedule classes at whatever pace you can handle. It's a defined program where you go through a massive number of subjects in lecture and lab format within the first 2 years, and then do clinical training in the third and fourth year.

There is no 3 year program in the US, however there are longer programs that involve not only obtaining the MD degree but also a graduate degree such as a PhD. These programs can be up to 7 years in duration.

People who are unable to successfully compete for entry into medical schools within the US sometimes go to the carribean or Mexico for medical school. These students obtain foriegn medical diplomas and have to do at least a 5th year in the US in order to be eligible for medical licensure. These students have a harder time obtaining decent specialty training because the foriegn medical schools are not viewed with the same respect as American ones.

Another option for those who cannot get into medical school is osteopathic medical school. This is a type of medical school leading to the DO degree instead of MD. DOs also are at a competitive disadvantage in terms of being able to obtain specialty training afterward.

Neither DOs nor foriegn medical graduates typically are able to compete for slots in surgical training programs.

Surgical training is 5 years at a minimum. Any amount of surgical subspecialization only adds to this. It is reasonable to assume that most people now going into surgery as a career will spend 6 to 8 years in training after medical school. This is because there are mounting limitations on what can be done during the initial 5 years, and more and more people are looking for additional training afterward.

As a final note, I would caution you not to regard the comments of "frediks10" with much weight. Although I am a surgeon and am, of course, biased... I would comment that the field of nursing is wide open, highly rewarding, and much less stressful than my job. I have the highest respect for those who work alongside me in the OR, as the skills of these people can absolutely make or break the operative effort.

Many of them make a very comfortable living, they don't have to field phone calls in the middle of the night, they don't feel responsible when people do badly, and they don't have to spend nearly as much time in training. It's a completely different lifestyle.

If you want a job in the operating room but you don't want to dedicate your life to the art of surgery, then be an OR tech.

If you want a career in the medical field, if you are prepared for the emotional rollercoaster of being in charge of life and death decision making, if you are mentally and physically capable of dedicating all of your life force to your work, and most importantly, if actually doing surgery is the most important and rewarding thing that you can think of doing... then by all means, become a surgeon.

Answer 2

What you REALLY want is to be an anesthesiologist! You get to wear pajamas all day, hang out in the OR, stick needles in people, and make them go to sleep before they can annoy you! (Sadly, we cannot do the same to the surgeons :D just joking, bellydoc!)

You'll need 4 years of college, 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency (about half the residency of our surgical colleagues).

In the US, you also have the option of being a nurse anesthetist, but if you have the brains to get through medical school, go for it.

If you're meant to be in the OR, no other place will do. There are other means to get there, and everyone who works in the OR is valuable.

We also have OR nurses, scrub techs, perfusionists, and physician assistants - you could look into those careers as well.

Best of luck with whatever you choose!

Answer 3

sorry but surgical residencies are way beyond the 2 years and some of us actually spend more than 4 years trying to finish our basic sciences. Surgical residencies can take 7 or more years, depending on the state...and you must have completed the first 2 steps of USMLE's, have your M.D. and a temporary license of some kind in order to do it.
Nursing assistant? Are you kidding. That's like asking what's the requirement to be a CEO (eg like Bill Gates) or a janitor that cleans up there. Not trying to be sarcastic just trying to bring you into reality.

Answer 4

actually u can do med school in 3 years. and you have 2 different careers. being either a surgeon or assistant nurse is a huge jump. 1 makes 6 figures or more a year, one works for bananas and metamucil. aim high, dont have such a broad goal. thats like saying "i want to be either a professional football player...or a towel boy, because im good at football and i love towels"

Answer 5

All of what the guy above me reported. additionally, some area notes, pediatric oncology (it is my opinion) is the main perplexing via fact which you're coping with fairly some youthful toddlers. I remember once I had maximum cancers 2 years in the past and im sixteen top now. the Pediatric Oncology clinics are continually crammed with fairly some sufferers. solid luck making your judgements. Oh, and on a area notice. i needed to be a doctor till I grew to become ill. Now, I have no thought. So, you nevertheless have 4 years to flow that's amazingly some time to be thinking approximately what you opt for to prepare.

Answer 6

To be a surgeon:

4 years of undergraduate school
4 years of medical school
2+ years of surgical residency

Answer 7

Surgical residense can be up to 5 years.

So it would take about 10-13 years of studies