A physician's job is respected, rewarding, and can pay very well. But the tradeoff is that it requires hard work, dedication, and many years of school (not to mention a high tolerance for the sight of blood). The term "physician" refers to someone who holds either a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree. To practice medicine, you'll need pre-med courses in college, four years of medical school, and a grueling combination of internships, residencies, and fellowships. Hopefully you don't mind tests, either, since you'll need to pass various exams to become licensed. You've probably got a pretty good idea of what doctors do on a daily basis: examine patients, prescribe medications, order and interpret tests, propose treatment, and, in some cases, perform surgical procedures. Ideally you'll treat your patients and their families with compassion, but also be able to emotionally distance yourself from them, since matters of life and death are a natural part of this job.