Completing your MBBS doesn’t finish the process of you becoming a qualified doctor. MBBS is a qualification that lets you impart and apply human biology. You need a specialization as an MS or MD to complete your process of becoming a specialist.
MS is a Master of Surgery and someone pursuing it becomes a surgeon while a MD is a Doctor of Medicine also known as Medicinae Doctor and someone pursuing it becomes a physician. A surgeon has to work around in the operation theatre mostly using instruments while a physician prescribes medicines and drugs.
MS is post-graduation in general surgery and MD is post-graduation in general medicine.
Aspiring MBBS students need to clear an entrance examination which is common for both and based on their ranks they get to select their choice.
Selecting between MS or MD is completely an individual’s choice and interest of the area of expertise.
After one completes MS and becomes a surgeon one would have to be ready for emergency situations. Surgeons should be available at beck and call of the hospital. They should also be ready to spend long hours standing while they work as operation’s could last quite long. A surgeon can work as a physician too and prescribe medicines to his/her patients. Surgeons take some time to establish themselves as surgery is something that needs a lot of skill and talent. A surgeon usually earns more than a MD.
An MD becomes a physician but unlike a surgeon he/she cannot practice surgery. However, physicians tend to begin their work quite soon and if they are good at it they get a lot of patients. A good MD can match a surgeon if he/she is good at his work. Medicine tends to give rewards later when doctor’s become more experienced.
A medical student pursuing MD or MS would have to dedicate 3 years of study and practical work to complete the course and get certified. For a further specialization in the needed field 2 years more is needed.
There are further specializations in both these branches some of them are as below:
MS - Plastic surgery, Cardio-thoracic surgery, Urology, Orthopaedics, Cardiac Gynaecology, surgery, Cosmetic surgery, , Ophthalmology, Paediatric surgery, Obstetrics,ENTand more.
MD - Dermatology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Radio-Diagnosis, Neurology and Anaesthesiology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Psychiatry, Internal medicine, Paediatric, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics,Pathology and more.
Both MD and MS are good options and have their own importance and career prospects. They are respectable jobs too and they are also good when it comes to financial returns.
While selecting among the branches a medical student should also consider how brave he/she is, because a surgeon would have to see quite a lot of blood, handle instruments, make incisions, amputating and so many other things connected to a human body and the specialization that a surgeon is taking. Someone with a meek heart should avoid MS.
It comes as a surprise for several students when they learn that some of the reputed medical schools and colleges admit a small number of students from the non-traditional medical background.
Are you among those fortunate ones who have successfully made it to the medical college? Well, congratulations for you have got yet a valid reason to boast of your success after years of hard work and dedication.
For all the doctors out there and the ones who are aspiring to be, everybody knows the medical school is nothing less than an adventure trip, where you are thrown with a tidal wave of information at every other hour.