A medical education in U.S. can cost a lot of money. One year at a private medical college can cost forty thousand dollars – or more. The average cost at a public medical school is more than fifteen thousand dollars. Most students need loans to pay for medical school s . Many finish their education heavily in debt. Some Americans become doctors by joining the United States Army, Navy, Air Force or Public Health Service. They attend the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. These students attend without having to pay. In return, they spend seven years in government service. Doctors are among the highest paid people in the United States. Big-city doctors who work in specialties like eye care usually earn the most money. Some other doctors earn far less. That is especially true in poor communities. Most medical students spend their first two years mainly in classroom study. They learn about the body and all its parts. They also begin studying how to recognize and treat disease. By the third year, students begin working with patients in hospitals. Experienced doctors who have treated many patients guide them as they work. As the students learn, they think about the kind of medical skills they will need to work as doctors. During the fourth year, students begin contacting hospital programs for the additional training they will need after medical school s . Competition to work at a top hospital is fierce. Doctors-in-training in hospitals are known as interns or residents. Many are called interns during their first year. After that, the name of the job is “resident.” All fifty states require at least one year of hospital work for doctors-in-training educated at medical schools in the United States. Graduates of study programs at most foreign medical schools may have to complete two or three years of residency, although there are exceptions. (318 words)