MD degree

The Doctor of Medicine (MD) is an academic medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In countries that follow the United States system, the MD denotes a first professional graduate degree awarded upon initial graduation from medical school. In countries that follow the tradition of the United Kingdom, the MD denotes a research doctorate, higher doctorate, honorary doctorate or advanced clinical coursework degree restricted to medical graduates. In those countries, the title of the equivalent first professional degree is Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.

In 1703, the University of Glasgow's first medical graduate, Samuel Benion, was issued with the academic degree of Doctor of Medicine.

University medical education in England culminated with the MB qualification, and in Scotland the MD, until in the mid-19th century the public bodies who regulated medical practice at the time required practitioners in Scotland as well as England to hold the dual Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (MB BS/MBChB/MB BChir/BM BCh etc.). North American medical schools switched to the tradition of the ancient universities of Scotland and began granting the MD title rather than the MB beginning in the late 18th century. The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York (which at the time was referred to as King's College of Medicine) was the first American university to grant the MD degree instead of the MB.

Early medical schools in North America that granted the Doctor of Medicine degrees were Columbia, Penn, Harvard, Maryland, and McGill. These first few North American medical schools that were established were (for the most part) founded by physicians and surgeons who had been trained in England and Scotland.

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