What level of education is needed to become a doctor?

In order to become doctors, people must complete a graduate medical education through residency programs that are between three and seven years or longer, notes the American Medical Association. Aspiring doctors must complete undergraduate degrees and graduate from medical schools before they begin their residencies.

Aspiring doctors who graduate from medical school complete their residencies under the supervision of senior physicians, states the American Medical Association. Those who choose specialties such as general surgery spend longer in residencies than those who choose to become family practitioners or pediatricians. Aspiring doctors who choose subspecialties such as gastroenterology spend another one to three years in training after their residencies.