• You must be licensed in the United States to practice medicine.doctor visiting image by TEMISTOCLE LUCARELLI from Fotolia.com
  
  You have up to eight years of school to complete before starting work as a doctor. Even after graduating from college and medical school, you have, at the minimum, three more years of on-the-job training before becoming licensed to practice as a doctor without supervision. Also, your medical education is expensive--tuition for one year in 2007 was $22,199 for resident students and $40,919 for non-resident students, according to the American Medical Association.
  
  

Undergraduate Work

• You don't have to have an undergraduate degree to be accepted into medical school, but all medical schools, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, require at least three years of undergraduate study for admission. The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends choosing course work strong in the sciences, such as biology and chemistry.
  
  

Medical School

• You must graduate from a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education to become a doctor. The AMA considers medical school to be your undergraduate medical education. Generally medical school is four years of course work, but the Occupational Outlook Handbook describes a type of institution that combines undergraduate studies and medical school, which may take only six or seven years to complete.
  
  

Residency

• At the beginning of your graduate medical education, you spend three to seven years in a training program called a residency. You are paid for your work during the residency. The length of time needed depends on your specialty and also if you want to become board-certified.
  
  During your residency, your work will be supervised by senior doctors.
  
  

Licensure

• Even after all of the schooling, you need a license to practice medicine from the state in which you will practice. The Occupational Outlook Handbook states all doctors must take the United States Medical Licensing Examination; your state may also have additional examinations or other requirements. The AMA can help you learn what is required for your state.
  
  

Fellowship

• Depending on your specialty as a doctor and whether you want to be certified with the board that oversees your specialty, you may want to complete a fellowship. This is also a paid position where you work under the supervision of other doctors, but it is more specific as you focus on the sub-specialty you have chosen.