How long does it take to become a doctor?

How long does it take to become a doctor after high school?

Becoming a doctor takes 11 years after high school at the minimum, and 12 to 14 years in most higher-paid specialties. BLS describes the path as a bachelor's degree, a medical degree that “takes an additional 4 years to complete”, and 3 to 9 years in internship and residency.^[ooh_phys] The residency part is set by each specialty's ACGME program requirements, which we read for every specialty below.^{[acgme_fm][acgme_surg][acgme_cardio]}

Residency includes any required first clinical year. General surgery pay is the BLS “surgeons, all other” group, which includes general surgeons. Cardiology is 3 years of internal medicine plus a 3-year fellowship.

How long is medical school?

Medical school is four years for both the MD and the DO degree, after a four-year bachelor's degree.^[ooh_phys] The first two years are mostly classroom and lab science and the last two clinical rotations in hospitals and clinics. Getting in adds its own steps: the MCAT (standard registration $360) and the AMCAS application ($180 for the first school, $48 for each additional one in the 2027 cycle).^{[aamc_mcat][aamc_amcas]} What those four years cost, and the federal loan limits that apply from July 1, 2026, is worked out on how much medical school costs.

How long is residency?

Residency lasts three years in family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, four in psychiatry, neurology, OB-GYN, pathology, anesthesiology, dermatology and ophthalmology, and five in general surgery, orthopaedic surgery and diagnostic radiology.^{[acgme_fm][acgme_im][acgme_peds][acgme_psych][acgme_neuro][acgme_obgyn][acgme_path][acgme_anes][acgme_derm][acgme_ophth][acgme_surg][acgme_ortho][acgme_rad]} Emergency medicine programs run 36 or 48 months.^[acgme_em] Neurological surgery is the longest at 84 months, seven years including a chief residency year; the full path is on neurosurgeon salary.^[acgme_ns] Radiology, one of the five-year fields, is worked through step by step, with board exams and costs, on how to become a radiologist.

• Some programs need a separate first year. Dermatology is 36 months but requires a broad clinical year first; 36-month anesthesiology and 48-month radiology programs also require a prior clinical year. Either way the total is four or five years.^{[acgme_derm][acgme_anes][acgme_rad]}
• Fellowships come on top. Subspecialty training after residency usually adds 1 to 3 years.^[ooh_phys] Cardiology is the clearest case: a 36-month fellowship after a 36-month internal medicine residency.^{[acgme_cardio]}
• A residency is won through the Match. The 2026 Main Residency Match offered 41,126 first-year positions; 93.5% of U.S. MD seniors and 93.2% of U.S. DO seniors matched to one.^[nrmp]

Example: the anesthesiology path

It takes 12 years after high school to become an anesthesiologist: 4 years of college, 4 of medical school and a 4-year residency.^[acgme_anes] ACGME accredits anesthesiology programs in 48-month and 36-month formats; the 36-month format requires a separate 12-month clinical year first, so both take four years. Anesthesiologists then earn a median of $391,490, among the highest of any specialty; see anesthesiologist salary for pay by state.^[onet_anes]

What residents earn while they train

Residents are paid a salary, called a stipend, of about $68,000 in the first year, rising by $2,300 to $4,300 a year with each training level.^{[aamc_stipend]} The AAMC's survey of stipends as of July 1, 2025 gives these means and medians:

So a 3-year family medicine residency pays about $211,966 in total and a 5-year surgery or radiology residency about $371,366, before tax.^{[aamc_stipend]} The home page lists doctor salary by specialty for the pay that follows.

Does a longer residency pay off?

Yes for most specialties: the extra training years cost pay, but the higher salary recovers it within a few years. The table compares each specialty with a family physician who finished a 3-year residency and earns the family medicine median of $244,180 during the extra years, while the other doctor is still on a resident stipend.^{[onet_fm][aamc_stipend]}

Nominal dollars, no taxes, raises or interest. Medians differ a lot by state; check a specific offer with the calculators on each salary page.

Training years also change the loan bill, because interest runs while a resident pays little or nothing. Set the residency length in the calculator to see the effect.