The training of physicians in the US requires completing several steps: 1. Complete approximately 3 years of course in sciences, usually as part of completing a 4-year undergraduate university degree. 2. Complete a 4 year program at a medical school, earning either the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (M.O.) 3. Complete a 1-year paid internship at a teaching hospital, which consists of working as a physician while being closely supervised by physicians with more experience. 4. Most physicians then complete an additional paid supervised training program, which is call a residency, that specializes in a particular area of medicine such as family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, general surgery, a specialized area of surgery, psychiatry, and so on. 5. After successfully completing a residency and earning certification from the appropriate professional association, a physician is finally able to work as an independent physician in private practice or join a group practice. A surgeon is a physician who has completed a residency program in surgery. Most surgeons specialize in one particular type of surgery.

US - Talking _strictly_ about medicine - * "Doctor" and "physician" mean the same thing. * "Surgeons" are doctors who have special training to do surgery. They are the only ones who do surgery because they're the ones who know how to do it. (You wouldn't want a non-surgeon doctor to do surgery on you.) * In the US, we call it "medical school" or "med school" not "medical college." People who graduate from med school (and then pass some additional tests) are doctors (or physicians) * During med school, students can specialize and take specific classes or get additional training on certain types of medicine or treatment (for example, students who want to be surgeons learn surgery). * When you have something basic (ache, pain, cold) you would go to see a "General Practitioner" or "GP" (Even outside of medicine, "generalist" is the opposite of "specialist." A generalist knows a little about everything, a specialist knows a lot about one thing.) That person could also be called a doctor or physician. * If you have cancer you would see an oncologist. That's doctor (or physician!) who specializes in cancer because they have training and extra classes in treating cancer. If you had breathing issues, you might see a pulmonologist - a doctor that focuses on lungs. (If you're thinking that sounds like "pulmón," you're right - because a lot of our medical terms come from Latin.) Does that help?

Hola, Jordi En simples palabras: Un "Doctor" en inglés es tanto la persona que tiene el grado como con la que vas cuando te enfermas. Un "Physician" también es un doctor, pero el solo puede solo se especializa en cualquier aspecto de la salud. Conclusión: No todos los "Doctors" son "Physicians" Y "Surgeon" es cirujano y es el unico que puede llevar a cabo una operacion, no obstante, a veces tambien le llamamos "Doctor" Espero te sirva

Hi Jordi, All doctors, physicians, and surgeons go through similar schooling, but specialize in different things. Some of these specializations involve surgery. Those graduates who have little or no training in surgery become physicians. All surgeons are also physicians, but not all physicians are surgeons. So, yes, only surgeons can perform surgery. When you have an ache, pain, or cold, you see a general md, or medical doctor. If you have cancer, you see a specialist in that field. I hope this clears things up.

Hi, Doctors and physicians are the same thing, with regards to medicine. Physician is a more formal word. When you have any medical issue, first you would go see a doctor / physician. Then if you need surgery, you would go see a surgeon. Only surgeons can perform surgery. There are others that have the title of 'doctor'. These are people that have a PhD (doctorate degree in philosophy), which is the highest level you can obtain from a university. This can be in any subject. Like I said before, 'physician' is a more formal word but it is a way of differentiating that you're talking about a medical doctor. Whereas if you just said 'doctor' it could be confused with someone who has PhD, but generally you'd know from the context.