<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physician</span>

Physician

<p>A <b>physician</b> (<a href="/en/American_English" title="American English" class="wl">American English</a>), <b>medical practitioner</b> (<a href="/en/English_in_the_Commonwealth_of_Nations" title="English in the Commonwealth of Nations" class="wl">Commonwealth English</a>), <b>medical doctor</b>, or simply <b>doctor</b>, is a <a href="/en/Health_professional" title="Health professional" class="wl">health professional</a> who practices <a href="/en/Medicine" title="Medicine" class="wl">medicine</a>, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring <a href="/en/Health" title="Health" class="wl">health</a> through the <a href="/en/Medical_education" title="Medical education" class="wl">study</a>, <a href="/en/Medical_diagnosis" title="Medical diagnosis" class="wl">diagnosis</a>, <a href="/en/Prognosis" title="Prognosis" class="wl">prognosis</a> and <a href="/en/Therapy" title="Therapy" class="wl">treatment</a> of <a href="/en/Disease" title="Disease" class="wl">disease</a>, <a href="/en/Injury" title="Injury" class="wl">injury</a>, and other physical and mental impairments. Physicians may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as <a href="/en/Specialty_(medicine)" title="Specialty (medicine)" class="mw-redirect wl">specialities</a>—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as <a href="/en/General_practitioner" title="General practitioner" class="wl">general practice</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> Medical practice properly requires both a detailed <a href="/en/Knowledge" title="Knowledge" class="wl">knowledge</a> of the <a href="/en/Discipline_(academia)" title="Discipline (academia)" class="mw-redirect wl">academic disciplines</a>, such as <a href="/en/Anatomy" title="Anatomy" class="wl">anatomy</a> and <a href="/en/Physiology" title="Physiology" class="wl">physiology</a>, <a href="/en/Pathophysiology" title="Pathophysiology" class="wl">underlying diseases</a> and their treatment—the <i><a href="/en/Science" title="Science" class="wl">science</a></i> of medicine—and also a decent <a href="/en/Competence_(human_resources)" title="Competence (human resources)" class="wl">competence</a> in its applied practice—the art or <i><a href="/en/Craft" title="Craft" class="wl">craft</a></i> of medicine.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Professional who practices medicine</div>


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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Occupation, Names, Occupation type, Activity ...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title">Physician</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg/220px-The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="1536" data-file-height="1053" data-file-type="bitmap" height="151" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg/330px-The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg/440px-The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg 2x" alt="The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop.jpg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption"><i>The Doctor</i> by <a href="/en/Luke_Fildes" title="Luke Fildes" class="wl">Luke Fildes</a><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Occupation</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Names</th><td class="infobox-data">Physician, medical practitioner, medical doctor or simply <i>doctor</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Occupation type</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Professional" title="Professional" class="wl">Professional</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Activity sectors</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Medicine" title="Medicine" class="wl">Medicine</a>, <a href="/en/Health_care" title="Health care" class="wl">health care</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Description</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Competencies</th><td class="infobox-data">The <a href="/en/Ethics" title="Ethics" class="wl">ethics</a>, <a href="/en/Art" title="Art" class="wl">art</a> and science of <a href="/en/Medicine" title="Medicine" class="wl">medicine</a>, <a href="/en/Analytical_skill" title="Analytical skill" class="wl">analytical skills</a>, and <a href="/en/Critical_thinking" title="Critical thinking" class="wl">critical thinking</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Education required</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Bachelor_of_Medicine,_Bachelor_of_Surgery" title="Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery" class="wl">MBBS</a>, <a href="/en/Doctor_of_Medicine" title="Doctor of Medicine" class="wl">MD</a>, <a href="/en/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine" title="Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine" class="wl">DO</a>, or <a href="/en/Doctor_of_Medicine" title="Doctor of Medicine" class="wl">MDCM</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Fields of<br>employment</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Clinic" title="Clinic" class="wl">Clinics</a>, <a href="/en/Hospital" title="Hospital" class="wl">hospitals</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Related jobs</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/General_practitioner" title="General practitioner" class="wl">General practitioner</a><br><a href="/en/Family_physician" title="Family physician" class="mw-redirect wl">Family physician</a><br><a href="/en/Surgeon" title="Surgeon" class="wl">Surgeon</a><br><a href="/en/Specialty_(medicine)" title="Specialty (medicine)" class="mw-redirect wl">Specialist physician</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>Both the role of the physician and the meaning of the word itself vary around the world. Degrees and other qualifications vary widely, but there are some common elements, such as <a href="/en/Medical_ethics" title="Medical ethics" class="wl">medical ethics</a> requiring that physicians show consideration, compassion, and benevolence for their <a href="/en/Patient" title="Patient" class="wl">patients</a>.</p>



A physician , medical practitioner , medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Physicians may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment—known as specialities—or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities—known as general practice. Medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines, such as anatomy and physiology, underlying diseases and their treatment—the science of medicine—and also a decent competence in its applied practice—the art or craft of medicine. Both the role of the physician and the meaning of the word itself vary around the world. Degrees and other qualifications vary widely, but there are some common elements, such as medical ethics requiring that physicians show consideration, compassion, and benevolence for their patients. 