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Academic Qualifications Required to Be a Cardiologist

Cardiologists are heart doctors, experts in diagnosing and treating problems of the heart and circulatory system. They use a battery of tests, including blood work, ECGs and X-rays, to make diagnoses. According to the Health Care Training Center, the median cardiologist salary is roughly $241,000. Like other doctors cardiologists complete medical school, but they should work on their academic qualifications even as undergraduates.

  1. Undergraduate

    • As a premed college student, an aspiring cardiologist needs a bachelor's degree to get into medical school. While many students major in biochemistry, biology and chemistry, medical schools like a diverse student body and accept students with all kinds of academic backgrounds, according to the My Future Doctor website. If you're not graduating with a science degree, however, you should still take plenty of courses in science: biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy and biochemistry, for instance. If you're interested in a particular medical school, talk to its admissions office about the school's preferences.

    Qualifying

    • Graduating with a degree, good grades and a satisfactory list of courses still doesn't get you into medical school. To earn a slot, you also need to pass the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). The Association of American Medical Colleges describes the test as a multiple-choice examination that assesses your problem-solving, critical-thinking and writing skills and your knowledge of scientific principles basic to medicine. You can take the MCAT three times in one calendar year.

    Med School

    • The first year of medical school is an exhaustive study of basic medicine, Dr. Lisabetta Divita states on the Student Doctor website. First-year courses include anatomy, histology, pathology and biochemistry. The second year focuses more on diseases and conditions doctors confront in practice. In the third year, you'll become part of a medical team rotating through different specialties; in the fourth year, you continue rotations but you specialize more.

    Internship

    • Once you graduate from medical school, you become an intern and start a fresh period of study and training known as residency. According to the Degree Directory, you'll spend the first three years of residence training in general internal medicine, then three years in cardiology. At first you'll work under the supervision of more experienced physicians, but over time, as you gain experience, you'll be given more freedom to work on your own. Once you complete your residency, you must apply for a state medical license. You can also apply to the American Board of Internal Medicine for certification, but it isn't a requirement.

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