Becoming a Doctor Becoming a Doctor By Samantha Gross At age 29, Marla Shu had spent 19 years of her life in school, from kindergarten to the day she received her graduate degree in Epidemiology, the study of the spread and control of disease. Some people would have been sick of being a student, but she signed up for at least seven more years of study. Becoming a doctor meant more years in the classroom, as well as countless sleepless nights studying for grueling exams, and learning procedures by patients’ hospital beds. But for Dr. Shu, who graduated from medical school in May 2013, the process was worth it. “It feels really good to know enough to actually feel like you’re helping someone,” she said. “It’s an overwhelming sense of responsibility, but also you feel like you’re doing something really great.” Like all aspiring doctors, Dr. Shu had to meet certain prerequisites in order to gain admission to medical school; she had to take classes in Biology, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, and English, to name a few. As of 2013, there was a limited number of training programs for physicians in the United States, and many more people applied than could be admitted. All applicants were required to take a standardized test that covered topics in the sciences, and tested problem solving and critical thinking. © 2013 ReadWorks ® , Inc. All rights reserved.