Medical Licensing: What It Takes to Practice as a Doctor in India and Beyond

When you hear medical licensing, the official process that lets a person practice medicine legally. Also known as physician licensure, it’s not just a formality—it’s the line between studying medicine and actually saving lives. In India, that line starts with NEET, the national entrance exam that determines who gets into medical college. Pass NEET, get into an MBBS program, finish five and a half years of study, and then you still aren’t done. You need to clear your final university exams, do a mandatory internship, and then register with the National Medical Commission. Only then can you legally call yourself a doctor and treat patients.

But medical licensing isn’t the same everywhere. In the U.S., the path is longer and steeper. After finishing medical school, you must pass the USMLE, a three-step exam series that tests clinical knowledge and patient skills. Step 1 alone is infamous for its difficulty and high stakes—it can make or break your residency match. Unlike NEET, which is a single gate, USMLE is a gauntlet. And here’s the catch: many students take it multiple times. There’s no official limit on medical exam attempts, how many times you can retake a licensing test, but each failure adds cost, stress, and delay. Coaching centers in India often say NEET has a cap on attempts—false. The truth? You can try as many times as you need. Same with USMLE. The system doesn’t block you—it just makes you earn it.

And what happens after you finally get licensed? That’s where the numbers get real. A fresh MBBS graduate in India might start at ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 a month. But in a metro city private hospital? That can jump to ₹1 lakh. Specialists with experience? Over ₹5 lakhs a month. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a licensed doctor earns six figures from day one. The gap isn’t just about money—it’s about recognition, infrastructure, and opportunity. Medical licensing opens doors, but the doors lead to very different rooms depending on where you are.

What you’ll find below are real stories and hard facts about what it takes to get through these exams, how many tries it actually takes, what the salaries look like, and why some paths feel impossible—until you realize they’re just long. No fluff. No myths. Just what works.