It can take longer in other jurisdictions.
In Australasia:
- 6 years before you can put "Dr" in front of your name.
- Generally another 3-5 years as a house surgeon/registrar in a teaching hospital
- 4-6 years on a specialty program.
The main difference is that doctors are generalists before they are specialists. So a cardiologist has a fairly good knowledge about respiratory or abdominal complaints as well as their own niche. A "general practitioner" remains a generalist and acts as a first line of call for most patients, treating many disorders directly and referring where appropriate.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
