by Erich Rosenberger M.D.

Created on: December 09, 2008   Last Updated: January 13, 2012

The path to becoming a cardiologist is a long road. It takes many years of training and plenty of focus to become a cardiologist. Cardiologists are highly specialized doctors who focus on the medical treatment of the heart. Although it is difficult and takes a long time to become a cardiologist, it can ultimately be a very rewarding career. This article will outline some of the basic steps you will need to take in becoming a cardiologist.

In order to become a cardiologist, you must first get a degree from an undergraduate college or university. You will need a bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university. It is not important what you major in while you are in college, although most future cardiologists will obtain a science degree of some type. Typically, this means a biology or chemistry degree. If you are not a science major as an undergrad, you must carefully select your coursework so that it fulfills the premedical requirements to get into medical school. There are many cardiologists who have non-science degrees - anything from music to English to history are becoming more and more common.

The entrance requirements for medical school are a bit different from school to school. Almost all medical schools require a minimum of one year of biology, one year of general chemistry, one year of physics, and one year of organic chemistry. In addition, most medical schools will require at least a minimal amount of math, and even some English courses. Advanced classes in microbiology and biochemistry are common as well. To determine the exact course requirements for the medical school which you may choose to apply to, I recommend people get a copy of the MSAR book. This stands for "Medical School Admission Requirements". It is published every year, and contains up-to-date information on the admissions requirements for every medical school in the United States. It is an invaluable tool in the application process to medical school. The MSAR book is available at your university bookstore or online at places like Amazon.com (click HERE for the Amazon.com listing).

You will also need to take the MCAT exam. This stands for Medical College Admissions Test. This test is a day-long examination which focuses on the basic sciences. You will need to have mastery of these topics in order to do well in your first two years of medical school. It is a standardized test primarily involving multiple choice questions. The MCAT exam often gives students significant problems,

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