Medicine

(Text compiled from the American Association of Medical Colleges website, the American Medical Association website, NAAHP's Medical Professions Admission Guide, UHM's JABSOM website, and the UHM 2005-2006 Catalog.)

Medical doctors, or physicians, are highly trained healthcare professionals who perform medical examinations, diagnose illnesses, prescribe drugs, and treat patients suffering from injury or disease using a variety of techniques.

Physicians serve in all types of communities, from rural to inner city, and in a wide variety of settings, from private practice to clinics and hospitals. They also work in specialized settings, such as homeless shelters, schools, sports programs, prisons, nursing homes, third-world countries, and the armed forces. About one-third of the nation’s physicians are generalists, or "primary care" doctors, although that percentage is declining as more physicians choose to become specialists. Generalists include fields such as internists, family physicians, and pediatricians. Specialists focus on a particular system or part of the body; examples include neurologists, hematologists, cardiologists, and podiatrists, to name only a few.

Physicians also serve in research, studying and developing new treatments for disease, in academia, sharing their skills by educating medical students, in health organizations, pharmaceutical companies, medical technology manufacturing, health insurance companies, and in corporations with health and safety programs.

There are five main degrees in medicine: allopathic, chiropractic, naturopathic, osteopathic, and podiatric. Choose one to read about:

Allopathic physicians (M.D.s, Medical Doctors, or Doctors of Medicine) practice the most widespread type medicine, founded in Western scientific traditions and focused on diagnosing and treating injury and disease.
Chiropractic physicians (D.C.s, Doctors of Chiropractic, or Doctors of Chiropractic Medicine) focus on the nervous system and the relationship between health and the alignment of the musculoskeletal structure.
Naturopathic physicians (D.N.s, or Doctors of Naturopathic Medicine) emphasize maintaining health through physical and spiritual wellness and may incorporate nontraditional or non-Western methods, such as acupuncture, reflexology, and homeopathic remedies.
Osteopathic physicians (D.O.s, or Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine) take a comprehensive, holistic approach, focusing on the total well being of each individual. The main difference between an M.D. and a D.O. today is that the D.O. receives training in manipulating the musculoskeletal system in addition to the core medical training.
Podiatric physicians (D.P.M.s, or Doctors of Podiatric Medicine) are trained in the same Western scientific traditions as M.D. physicians, but specialize early during podiatric medical school into foot and ankle surgery.