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Medical doctor facts for kids

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Physician
The Doctor Luke Fildes crop.jpg
The Doctor by Luke Fildes (detail)
Occupation
Names Physician, medical practitioner, medical doctor or simply doctor
Occupation type
Professional
Activity sectors
Medicine, health care
Description
Competencies The ethics, art and science of medicine, analytical skills, critical thinking
Education required
MBBS, MD, DO
Fields of
employment
Clinics, hospitals
Related jobs
General practitioner

Family physician

Surgeon

Medical specialties

Dentist

A medical doctor (also called a physician) is a person who practices medicine to treat illness and injuries.

Medical doctors go to medical school to be trained. They usually hold a college degree in medicine. Medical doctors used to make house calls to treat patients at home. Now they usually see patients in their offices or in hospitals. Medical doctors may also work for schools, companies, sports teams, or the military. Medical doctors are often assisted by nurses or other staff.

Medical doctors treat patients by diagnosing them, or figuring out what is wrong. When medical doctors diagnose a patient, they begin by asking questions about the patient's symptoms. Symptoms might include fever or pain. They may ask other questions about things like past illnesses or family members who have been sick. They will then examine the patient. That can include looking at different parts of the body and listening to the heart and lungs with a stethoscope. Sometimes they may need to collect blood, use an x-ray machine, or use other tools to look for things they cannot see when examining the patient. Usually, when they have gathered enough information, a doctor can make a diagnosis and then prescribe a treatment. Often they prescribe drugs.

Specialists

Some medical doctors do only certain kinds of medicine. These doctors are called specialists. They may treat injuries to only specific parts of the body. They may treat only patients who have certain diseases. For example, there are medical doctors who specialise in diseases of the stomach or intestines. Other medical doctors are "general practitioners" or "family practitioners". This means that they do a little bit of everything. They try to deal with as much of a patient's health problems as they can without sending them to a specialist.

Some types of specialists are:

Related pages

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Médico para niños

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Medical doctor Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.