Course of study required to educate a legally qualified and licensed practitioner of medicine, concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury, through the science of medicine and the applied practice of that science. Gaining a basic medical degree may take from five to eight or even nine years, depending on jurisdiction and university. Medical doctors include generalists and specialists. Medical training completed by internship qualifies a medical doctor to become a physician or a surgeon.