how long does it take to become a docter who is qualified enough to work in a hospital as a docter?

Question: how long does it take to become a docter who is qualified enough to work in a hospital as a docter?
- Keywords:
  career,
  doctor,
  education
Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
- Simon Redfern answered on 16 Jun 2014:
  
  My wife studied medicine and worked as a Doctor. It took her seven years to train as a doctor before she was allowed to work independently. She worked under supervision in hospital before that, after about five years training, I think. You are probably best asking your own doctor for more information.
- Daren Fearon answered on 16 Jun 2014:
  
  Medical doctors can take between 5 and 8 years to train depending on the specialty.
  
  You can also do a doctorate (or PhD) in different sciences like Chemistry, Physics, Molecular Biology etc which take normally 3 or 4 years. This qualification grants you the title Dr but won’t generally work in a hospital. I have a PhD in Chemistry so I am Dr Daren but I work in a lab with and not with people!
- Lynne Thomas answered on 16 Jun 2014:
  
  I think it depends on what you want to specialise in but it takes a long time! We are a different kind of doctor as Daren says where we study a second degree in research for 3 or 4 years in an area of science (you can get a doctorate in other subjects too like English, French, Engineering etc). Actually, medical doctors get an honorary doctorate and so get to use the title because of this. And in fact, in the UK, surgeons don’t get to use the title!
- anon answered on 16 Jun 2014:
  
  My friends have just done their university training to be doctors after 5 years and they’re now finishing their first year working in hospitals around the country. After graduating they have to do another 2 years supervised in the hospitals before they’re fully qualified.
- Phillip Manning answered on 17 Jun 2014:
  
  There are Medical Doctors in hospitals who might treat you and they take between 5-8 years to train, depending on what type of medicine or surgery you want to practice. However there are also PhD doctors, such as medical physicists, who help run the equipment, experiments, etc., and carry out a very important role. Some will have their first degree and PhD, so maybe 6 years training and other a masters, making it 7-8 years training.