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James Parkinson

James Parkinson

James Parkinson (April 11, 1755 – December 21, 1824) was an English physician, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist. He is most famous for his 1817 work, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, a description of the disease which later became known as Parkinson's Disease. James Parkinson was born in Shoreditch, London, England. He was the son of John Parkinson, an apothecary and surgeon practicing in Hoxton Square in London. In 1784 James Parkinson was approved by the Corporation of London as a surgeon. On May 21, 1783, he married Mary Dale, with whom he had six children. Soon after, James succeeded his father in his practice in Hoxton Square. He believed that any wothwhile physician should know shorthand, at which he was adept. In addition to his flourishing medical practice, Parkinson possessed an avid interest in geology and paleontology, as well as the politics of the day. politics Parkinson was a strong advocate for the under-privileged, and an outspoken critic of the Pitt-government. His early career was marred by his being involved in a variety of social and revolutionary causes, and some historians think it most likely that he was a strong proponent for the French Revolution. He published almost a dozen political pamphlets in the post-French Revolution period, when Britain was in political chaos. Writing under his own name and pseudonym "Old Hubert", he called for radical social reforms. Parkinson called for representation of the people in the House of Commons, the institution of annual parliaments, and universal suffrage. He was a member of several secret political societies, including the London Corresponding Society for Reform of Parliamentary Representation. In 1794 his membership in the organization led to his being examined under oath before the Privy Council to give evidence about a plot to assassinate King George III. He refused to testify regarding his part in "The Pop-Gun Plot", until he was certain he would not be forced to incriminate himself. The plan was to use a poisoned dart fired from a "pop gun" to bring the king's reign to a premature conclusion. Fortunately for Parkinson, the whole affair was soon forgotten, and no charges were ever brought against him. Parkinson turned away from his tumultuous political career, and between 1799 and 1807 published a number of medical works, including a work on gout in 1805. He was also responsible for the earliest writings on the subject of peritonitis in English medical literature. Parkinson was also interested in improving the general health and well-being of the population. He wrote several medical doctrines which exposed a similar zeal for the health and welfare of the people that was expressed by his political activism. He was a crusader for legal protection for the mentally ill, as well as their doctors and families. In 1812 Parkinson assisted his son with the first described case of appendicitis in English, and the first instance in which perforation was shown to be the cause of death. Parkinson's interest gradually turned from medicine to nature, specifically the relatively new field of geology, and paleontology, and he began collecting specimens and drawings of fossils in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He would take his children and friends on excursions to collect or observe fossil plants and animals. His attempts to learn more about fossil identification and interpretation were frustrated by a lack of available literature, and so he took the decision to improve matters by writing his own introduction to the study of fossils. In 1804 the first volume of his Organic Remains of the Former World was published. Gideon Mantell praised it as "the first attempt to give a familiar and scientific account [of fossils]". A second volume appeared in 1808, and a third in 1811. Parkinson illustrated each volume, sometimes in color, and the plates were later re-used by Gideon Mantell. In 1822 he published the shorter "Elements of Oryctology: an Introduction to the Study of Fossil Organic Remains, especially of those found in British Strata". Parkinson belonged to a school of thought, Catastrophism, that concerned itself with the belief that the Earth's geology and biosphere were shaped by recent large-scale cataclysms. He would cite the Noachian deluge of Genesis as an example, and he firmly believed that creation and extinction were processes guided by the hand of God. His view on Creation was that each 'day' was actually a much longer period, perhaps tens of thousands of years in length. On November 13, 1797, Parkinson and a number of other distinguished gentlemen met at the Freemason's Tavern. The gathering included such great names as Sir Humphrey Davy, Arthur Aikin, and George Bellas Greenough. This was to be the first meeting of the Geological Society of London. Parkinson also contributed several papers to William Nicholson’s "A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts", and in the first, second, and fifth volumes of the "Geological Society’s Transactions". Parkinson, James Parkinson, James Parkinson, James Parkinson, James Parkinson, James

April 11

April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). There are 264 days remaining.

Events

- 1241 - Batu Khan defeats Bela IV of Hungary at the Battle of Muhi
- 1512 - Battle of Ravenna
- 1713 - War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War): Treaty of Utrecht
- 1775 - Last execution for witchcraft in Germany
- 1803 - French Foreign Minister Charles Talleyrand offers to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States
- 1814 - Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
- 1827 - The Greek national assembly at Troezene elected Capo d'Istria president of the republic.
- 1856 - Battle of Rivas in the war between the Central American coalition and filibuster William Walker.
- 1868 - The Shogunate is abolished in Japan
- 1876 - The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is organized
- 1888 - The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.
- 1899 - Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the United States
- 1921 - First sports broadcast on the radio.
- 1921 - The Emirate of Transjordan is created.
- 1945 - World War II: United States forces liberate Buchenwald concentration camp.
- 1947 - Jackie Robinson is the first African American to play in a modern-day Major League Baseball game.
- 1951 - Korean War: President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
- 1961 - Bob Dylan makes his singing début in New York City.
- 1965 - The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states killing 256 people.
- 1968 - Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
- 1968 - German student leader Rudi Dutschke is shot in Berlin.
- 1970 - Apollo 13 is launched.
- 1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
- 1981 - A massive riot in Brixton, South London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
- 2001 - The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, People's Republic of China after a collision with an F-8 fighter is released.
- 2001 - Extreme Championship Wrestling Folds
- 2002 - The Ghriba synagogue bombing by Al Qaeda kills 21 in Tunisia.
- 2002 - Eighteen people were killed and 150-185 people were injured, some quite seriously, during the April 11 protest march against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Births

- 146 - Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor (d. 211)
- 1357 - King John I of Portugal (d. 1433)
- 1374 - Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (d. 1398)
- 1492 - Margaret of Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (d. 1549)
- 1592 - John Eliot, English statesman (d. 1632)
- 1705 - William Cookworthy, English chemist (d. 1780)
- 1721 - David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary (d. 1808)
- 1722 - Christopher Smart, English poet (d. 1771)
- 1755 - James Parkinson, English physician (d. 1824)
- 1769 - Jean Lannes, French marshal (d. 1809)
- 1810 - Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, English soldier and orientalist (d. 1895)
- 1819 - Charles Hallé, German pianist and conductor (d. 1895)
- 1825 - Ferdinand Lassalle, German politician (d. 1864)
- 1869 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (d. 1943)
- 1883 - Hozumi Shigeto, Japanese author (d. 1951)
- 1889 - Nick LaRocca, American musician (d. 1961)
- 1893 - Dean Acheson, U.S. Secretary of State (d. 1971)
- 1900 - Sandor Marai, Hungarian writer (d. 1989)
- 1906 - Dale Messick, American cartoonist (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Leo Rosten, American humorist and author (d. 1997)
- 1911 - Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish-born runner (d. 1980)
- 1913 - Oleg Cassini, French-born fashion designer
- 1914 - Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2003)
- 1916 - Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer (d. 1983)
- 1917 - David Westheimer, American novelist (d. 2005)
- 1930 - Anton LaVey, American founder of the Church of Satan (d. 1997)
- 1931 - Johnny Sheffield, American actor
- 1932 - Joel Grey, American singer, actor, and dancer
- 1935 - Richard Berry, American singer, and composer (d. 1997)
- 1938 - Kurt Moll, German bass
- 1939 - Louise Lasser, American actress
- 1944 - John Milius, American director and writer
- 1946 - Bob Harris, British disc jockey and presenter
- 1947 - Peter Riegert, American actor
- 1947 - Meshach Taylor, American actor
- 1949 - Bernd Eichinger, German film producer
- 1951 - Doris McGowen Beck Angleton, American socialite (d. 1997)
- 1951 - James Patrick Kelly, American author
- 1953 - Andrew Wiles, British mathematician
- 1953 - Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium
- 1955 - Kevin Brady, American politician
- 1955 - Michael Callen, American singer and songwriter (d. 1993)
- 1958 - Stuart Adamson, British musician (Big Country) (d. 2001)
- 1959 - Frank C Scott, Australian photo-journalist
- 1960 - Jeremy Clarkson, British journalist
- 1961 - Doug Hopkins, American musician
- 1963 - Chris Ferguson, American poker player
- 1966 - Mason Reese, American actor
- 1966 - Lisa Stansfield, English singer
- 1968 - Sergey Lukyanenko, Russian author
- 1971 - Oliver Riedel, German musican (Rammstein)
- 1972 - Jason Varitek, baseball player
- 1974 - Trot Nixon, baseball player
- 1980 - Mark Teixeira, baseball player
- 1982 - Ian Bell, English cricketer
- 1987 - Joss Stone, English singer

Deaths

- 1240 - Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd
- 1554 - Thomas Wyatt the younger, English rebel (executed) (b. 1521)
- 1555 - Joanna of Castile, mother of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1479)
- 1612 - Emanuel van Meteren, Flemish historian (b. 1535)
- 1612 - Edward Wightman, English Baptist preacher (burned at the stake) (b. 1566)
- 1626 - Marin Getaldić, Croatian mathematician (b. 1568)
- 1712 - Richard Simon, French Biblical critic (b. 1638)
- 1723 - John Robinson, English diplomat (b. 1650)
- 1798 - Karl Wilhelm Ramler, German poet (b. 1725)
- 1856 - Juan Santamaría, national hero of Costa Rica (b. 1831)
- 1861 - Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (b. 1824)
- 1873 - Edward Canby, U.S. general (assassinated) (b. 1817)
- 1906 - James Anthony Bailey, American circus impresario (b. 1847)
- 1906 - Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (b. 1839)
- 1916 - Richard Harding Davis, American author (b. 1864)
- 1926 - Luther Burbank, American botanist (b. 1849)
- 1970 - Cathy O'Donnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1970 - John O'Hara, American author (b. 1905)
- 1983 - Dolores del Rio, Mexican actress (b. 1905)
- 1985 - Enver Hoxha, Albanian statesman (b. 1908)
- 1987 - Erskine Caldwell, American author (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Primo Levi, Italian chemist, composer, librettist, and author (b. 1919)
- 1996 - Jessica Dubroff, American pilot (b. 1988)
- 1999 - Jean Vander Pyl, American voice actress (b. 1919)
- 2001 - Harry Secombe, Welsh actor and comedian (b. 1921)
- 2003 - Cecil Howard Green, British-born geophysicist and businessman (b. 1900)
- 2005 - Lucien Laurent, French footballer (b. 1907)

Holidays and observances

- 1993, 2004, 2066: Easter
- Anniversary of the Battle of Rivas (State holiday in Costa Rica)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/4/11 Today in History: April 11] ---- April 10 - April 12 - March 11 - May 11 -- listing of all days ko:4월 11일 ms:11 April ja:4月11日 simple:April 11 th:11 เมษายน

December 21

December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 10 days remaining.

Events

- 69 - Vespasian becomes the fourth Roman Emperor in the Year of the four emperors
- 1620 - The Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock
- 1780 - Great Britain declares war on The Netherlands in response to the Dutch joining the League of Armed Neutrality and for assisting French and American forces during the American Revolution
- 1861 - The Medal of Honor first authorized
- 1861 - Lord Lyons, the British minister to the United States, meets with United States Secretary of State William Seward concerning Confederate envoys arrested by the United States Navy in order to prevent war between the United States and the United Kingdom.
- 1872 - HMS Challenger sails from Portsmouth on the four-year scientific expedition that would lay the foundation for the science of oceanography
- 1880 - Isle of Man becomes first political entity that allows women to vote
- 1891 - First basketball game played
- 1898 - Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium
- 1913 - First crossword puzzle published
- 1914 - First feature-length silent film comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin, is released
- 1919 - Municipal elections held in Senegal (First round, second round is held December 28). The multi-racial list of the Independent Socialist Republican Party (PRSI) wins in all four municipalities
- 1923 - Nepal changes from British protectorate to independent state
- 1933 - Newfoundland becomes a crown colony
- 1937 - First screening of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length animated movie
- 1958 - Charles de Gaulle is elected as the first President of France and establishes the Fifth Republic
- 1962 - Rondane National Park, the first national park in Norway, was established
- 1968 - Apollo 8 launched
- 1979 - The United States government bails out the Chrysler Corporation
- 1979 - The Lancaster House Agreement was signed, effectively ending the white rule in Rhodesia under Ian Smith
- 1983 - Former U.S. President Gerald Ford guest-stars as himself on the prime-time soap opera Dynasty
- 1987 - The passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1; well over 1,000 die
- 1988 - A terrorist bomb explodes and crashes Pan Am flight 103, a Boeing 747, over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270, including eleven on the ground
- 1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard intercepts a van loaded with 950 kg of explosives intended by ETA to blow down Torre Picasso
- 2001 - Japanese television performer Masashi Tashiro got No. 1 temporarily in the Internet vote of Time's Person of the Year
- 2001 - President Fernando de la Rúa of Argentina was forced out of office in the midst of the December 2001 riots and financial crisis
- 2002 - Vancouver, British Columbia city council declares "D.O.A. Day" in observance of the Canadian punk band D.O.A.'s decades of influence and accomplishments
- 2012 - The Long Count of the Maya calendar recycles according to the most popular correlation. A minority argues that it does so on December 23, 2012

Births

- 1118 - Thomas Becket, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1170)
- 1401 - Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
- 1596 - Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (d. 1646)
- 1603 - Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist (d. 1684)
- 1714 - John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (d. 1774)
- 1804 - Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1881)
- 1811 - Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)
- 1815 - Thomas Couture French painter and teacher (d. 1879)
- 1843 - Thomas Bracken, New Zealand writer (d. 1898)
- 1850 - Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer (d. 1900)
- 1859 - Gustave Kahn, French poet (d. 1936)
- 1872 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d. 1956)
- 1872 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (d. 1942)
- 1876 - Jack Lang, Australian politician (d. 1975)
- 1878 - Jan Łukasiewicz, Polish philosopher and mathematician (d. 1956)
- 1879 - Joseph Stalin, Leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953 (d. 1953)
- 1889 - Sewall Wright, American biologist (d. 1988)
- 1890 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1967)
- 1892 - Walter Hagen, American golfer (d. 1969)
- 1892 - Rebecca West, American writer (d. 1983)
- 1896 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (d. 1971)
- 1914 - Ivan Generalić, Croatian painter (d. 1992)
- 1917 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
- 1918 - Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary (d. 2003)
- 1918 - Kurt Waldheim, United Nations Secretary-General
- 1921 - Vampira, Finnish actress
- 1922 - Paul Winchell, American ventriloquist (d. 2005)
- 1926 - Joe Paterno, American football coach
- 1935 - John G. Avildsen, American film director and editor
- 1935 - Yusuf Bey, Black Muslim leader
- 1935 - Phil Donahue, American talk show host
- 1937 - Jane Fonda, American actress and activist
- 1940 - Frank Zappa, American musician (d. 1993)
- 1942 - Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
- 1942 - Reinhard Mey, German singer
- 1942 - Carla Thomas, American singer
- 1944 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
- 1946 - Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (d. 1998)
- 1947 - Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist
- 1948 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor
- 1948 - Willi Resetarits, Austrian musician and cabaret artist
- 1950 - Jeffrey Katzenberg, American producer
- 1954 - Chris Evert, American tennis player
- 1955 - Jane Kaczmarek, American actress
- 1957 - Tom Henke, baseball player
- 1957 - Ray Romano, American comedian and actor
- 1959 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American runner (d. 1998)
- 1961 - Francis Ng, Hong Kong actor
- 1965 - Andy Dick, American actor and comedian
- 1965 - Anke Engelke, German comedienne
- 1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor
- 1967 - Mikhail Saakashvili, President of Georgia
- 1969 - Julie Delpy, French actress
- 1973 - Karmen Stavec, Slovenian singer
- 1974 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
- 1978 - Mike Vitar, American actor
- 1984 - Darren Potter, Irish footballer

Deaths

- 1295 - Marguerite Berenger of Provence, queen of Louis IX of France
- 1308 - Henry I of Hesse (b. 1244)
- 1375 - Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (b. 1313)
- 1504 - Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
- 1549 - Marguerite of Navarre, queen of Henry II of Navarre (b. 1492)
- 1579 - Vicente Masip, Spanish painter
- 1597 - Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (b. 1521)
- 1807 - John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (b. 1725)
- 1873 - Francis Garnier, French explorer (b. 1839)
- 1935 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist and satirist (b. 1890)
- 1937 - Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1856)
- 1940 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, American writer (b. 1896)
- 1945 - George S. Patton, U.S. general (b. 1885)
- 1956 - Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
- 1957 - Eric Coates, English composer (b. 1886)
- 1958 - Lion Feuchtwanger, German writer (b. 1884)
- 1983 - Paul de Man, Belgian-born literary critic (b. 1919)
- 1988 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)
- 1992 - Albert King, American musician (b. 1924)
- 1992 - Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1903)
- 2001 - Dick Schaap, American sports journalist (b. 1931)
- 2004 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

- The summer solstice (Southern Hemisphere) or winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere), sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. It is an important festival in the Chinese calendar.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/21 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/12/21 Today in History: December 21] ---- December 20 - December 22 - November 21 - January 21 -- listing of all days ko:12월 21일 ms:21 Disember ja:12月21日 simple:December 21 th:21 ธันวาคม

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician traders — an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network. The Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

William Shakespeare
Richard II (Act 2, Scene 1)

The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.

Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)

Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In the UK, this method of ranking cities is generally used only by people whose own city is promoted by it. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, links England to the European mainland. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel. The largest harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Internationally, it is the second largest harbour in the world, although this fact is disputed (See harbors for a list of other potential second largest harbours) The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 in Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/3153532.stm]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is -26.1 °C (-15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Newport in Shropshire. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/england/#temperature]

Major rivers

Shropshire.]]
- Thames
- Severn
- Trent
- Humber
- Yorkshire Ouse
- Tyne
- Mersey
- Dee
- Avon Main article: Waterways in the United Kingdom

Major Conurbations

:See main article: List of towns in England The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the 15 largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census) #Greater London (8,278,251) #West Midlands (2,284,093) #Greater Manchester (2,244,931) #Leeds/Bradford (1,499,465) #Tyneside (879,996) #Liverpool (816,216) #Nottingham (666,358) #Sheffield (640,720) #Bristol (551,066) #Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (461,181) #Portsmouth (442,252) #Leicester (441,213) #Bournemouth/Poole (383,713) #Reading (369,804) #Teesside (365,323)

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of England, Population of England England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups. It is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, second only to the Netherlands. This population is made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350–550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800–900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650–1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1840–1850 (Irish), 1880–1940 (Irish, Jews), 1950— (Irish, Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985— (citizens of European Community member states especially Ireland, East Europeans, Iranians, Kurds, refugees). The general prosperity of England as the largest partner of the UK, has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This segment of English homogeneous society continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally. The other image of foreign ethnic components in England is still mostly seen as a legacy of the British Empire; especially the Commonwealth of Nations.

English identity

The simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. However, inhabitants of England quite commonly refer to themselves as "British" rather than "English"; centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state (i.e. a British person, institution, custom, city, etc. is assumed English unless specified otherwise). The English frequently include their neighbours in the general term "British" while the Scots and Welsh, proud of their separate identities, tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms. Although currently a part of England, a notable percentage of those living in Cornwall feel similarly, considering themselves Cornish first. One significant exception is in Northern Ireland, where the Unionist community tend to identify very strongly as "British" (Republicans living in the province are more likely to consider themselves "Irish"), and there is not a "Northern Ireland" or "Northern Irish" identity to the same extent as there is (e.g.) a Scottish one. A person, therefore, using the term "English" to describe him or herself (regardless of personal history) may be going out of his or her way to do so; hence he or she may also be seen (rightly or wrongly, and not necessarily pejoratively) as nationalistic. While Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish patriotism are widely exhibited, specifically English patriotism has often been viewed with suspicion, and most English people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with Britain as a whole. However, this may be to avoid being seen as bullies by their neighbours. The extent to which specifically English patriotism is linked to a right-wing xenophobic agenda has also generated discomfort. The appropriation of English symbols by racist far-right organisations such as the National Front made many people uncomfortable with expressions of Englishness. In recent years, English identity has recently been a topic of debate in the national press, with many English people trying to "reclaim" the term and the flag from the far-right. See English nationalism. One notable exception to the above is in relation to sports, in particular Association football, Rugby football and to a lesser extent Cricket. Transient successes are often accompanied by a revival of the use of the "St George's Cross". While it has not yet replaced the "Union Flag" its use is on the increase. Many English people who have spent a lot of time overseas fall into the habit of referring to themselves as "English". It is the most recognisable designation by speakers of many languages, especially where their own language uses a similar word. Even in other English-speaking countries, people are often perplexed by concepts of "British" or the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". All these distinctions are only possible because there is no "English citizenship" or legal definition of Englishness. Moreover, the hazy understanding many people have of the distinction between "England" and "Britain" compounds the confusion. If in doubt, refer to an "English" person as "British": this will always be correct. It may not be as precise as "English", but it will avoid offence in the event the person is actually from a different part of Britain.

Culture

Union Flag Main article: Culture of England
- English literature
- Sir Thomas Browne
- Geoffrey Chaucer
- John Milton
- William Shakespeare
- Jane Austen
- Mary Shelley
- Charles Dickens
- Thomas Hardy
- George Orwell
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- C. S. Lewis
- Douglas Adams
- List of national parks of England and Wales
- Food and Drink
- English folklore
- English art
- English school of painting
- Music of England

Languages

Music of England.]] As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today (although not officially designated as such). An Indo-European language in Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-French aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies. (Some survive to this day.) But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. The law does not recognise any language as being official, but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). The only non-Anglic native spoken language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the 19th century but has been revived and is spoken in various degrees of fluency by around 3,500 people. This has no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornish/strategy/english/engl01.htm a draft strategy] to develop these plans. There is, however, no programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo-Scottish Border. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 70,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language, but does not give statistics specific to England. Like Cornish, BSL has no official status, but has been granted a degree of recognition by the government. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese and Vietnamese. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a large number of distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country.

Nomenclature

The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names akin to "England":
- "England" (Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian)
- "Engeland" (Dutch)
- "Inglismaa" (Estonian)
- "Angleterre" (French)
- "Inghilterra" (Italian)
- "Inglaterra" (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician)
- "Anglia" (Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian)
- "Anglija" (Russian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Ukrainian)
- "Engleska" (Croatian, Serbian)
- "Αγγλία" ("Anglía") (Greek)
- "Englanti" (Finnish) The Celtic names are quite different:
- "Bro-Saoz" (Breton)
- "Pow Sows" (Cornish)
- "Sasana" (Irish)
- "Sasainn" (Scottish Gaelic)
- "Lloegr" (Welsh) — but "Saeson" for the inhabitants.
- "Sostyn" (Manx Gaelic) Except for Lloegr, which is an ancient geographic term, these names are all derived from the Saxons, another family of Germanic tribes which arrived at about the same time as the Angles. See: Wiktionary:England for a further list of non-English names for England. "England" is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the entire United Kingdom, the island of Great Britain, or the British Isles. This may offend people from other parts of the UK. Frequently the English use the less-specific "Britain" or "the UK", even when "England" is technically correct and commonly also use "England" when "Britain" would be correct. Alternative names include:
- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today — but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time). The inhabitants of England are the English. The slang terms sometimes used for them include "Sassenachs" (from the Scots Gaelic), "Limeys" (in reference to the citrus fruits carried aboard English sailing vessels to prevent scurvy) and "Pom/Pommy" (used in Australian English and New Zealand English), but these may be perceived as offensive. Also see alternative words for British.

Symbols and insignia

alternative words for British.]] The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George's cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (see above), both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy – the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English throne descended down the Angevin line. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross). The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a variety of contexts. Predominantly, this is a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. However, a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a "tudor rose" (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses) may also be used on different occasions. The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.

National anthems

Although England does not have an official anthem of its own, the following are widely regarded as English national hymns:
- "Jerusalem:" Words by William Blake, Music by Hubert Parry
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": Words by Cecil Spring-Rice, Music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": Words by A C Benson, Music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of Great Britain, not only England)
- "Nimrod": Music by Edward Elgar "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem for the UK as a whole) is usually played for English sporting events (e.g. football matches), although "Land of Hope and Glory" has also been used as the English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. "Rule Britannia" despite being a song about Britain as a whole was often used for the English national football team when they play against another of the home nations but more recently "God Save The Queen" has been used by both the rugby and football teams. Many believe that English teams should use their own anthems, most popular of which is the use of "Jerusalem".

References

- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]

References

External links

- [http://www.enjoyengland.com/ The official website of the English Tourist Board — Enjoy England]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]: articles on England and her neighbours Category:Monarchies Category:European countries als:England zh-min-nan:England ko:잉글랜드 ms:England ja:イングランド simple:England th:แคว้นอังกฤษ

Physician

A physician is a person who practices medicine. See that article for more information on what physicians do in their practices; this article focuses on physician training and regulation. In the United States, the term physician is traditional and commonly used. In Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, the term doctor is more common as physician refers to specialists in internal medicine. Because of the extensive training requirements, physicians are traditionally considered to be members of a learned profession.

Training

:See also: medical school and medical residency.

United Kingdom

Medicine in the UK is an undergraduate subject. Students can begin training after leaving the school at 18 years of age. Medical school training lasts either five or six years, depending on the institution, and combines academic and practical training. Junior doctors then enter a vocational training phase. In the UK a doctor's training normally follows this path: #Degree level preclinical - Doctors must study medicine in university or medical school for two to three years "preclinical" (meaning little patient contact). However following recommendations by the British Medical Association (BMA) many universities are following a "Problem-based learning" approach, which stresses basing the studies around actual patient cases. #Clinical - This time is spent in a teaching hospital and typically lasts two or three years. After this is completed the student doctor is awarded a Bachelor of Medicine (BM or MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BCh or BS). An honorary prefix of "Dr" is now entitled to be used, although it is not recognised in the academic sense of the word (see Doctorate). Doctors who graduated overseas have to pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board test (PLAB) to be eligible for further postgraduate training and jobs in UK. #The Foundation Programme - Due to recent changes in the training of junior doctors, newly qualified doctors enter a two year Foundation Programme, where they train in a variety of different specialities. These must include training in General Medicine and General Surgery but can also include other fields such as Paediatrics or General Practice. Following completion of the Foundation Programme a doctor can choose to specialise in one field. All routes involve further assessment and examinations. The majority in the UK work in the community as General practitioners (GPs), who are the first port of call for patients. They diagnose illness and refer patients for further examination by specialists if necessary. The majority of patients are managed by their GP without the need for further referral. Hospital doctors are promoted after sitting relevant postgraduate exams within their chosen specialty (e.g. Member of the Royal College of Physicians MRCP, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons MRCS) and a competitive interview selection process from SHO to Specialist Registrar and eventually Consultant on completion of the CCST (Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training), which is the highest level in a specialty team (with the exception of university-linked professors). The competition is great for those who wish to attain consultant level and many now complete higher degrees in research such as a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) which is a thesis-based award based on at least two years full-time research or PhD which involves at least three years of full-time research. The time taken to get from graduation from medical school to becoming a Consultant varies from speciality to speciality but can be anything from 7 to 10 years, or longer in some specialities.

United States

In the United States and countries following the U.S. method, the path to a medical degree is somewhat different. #Admissions: Admission into medical school requires either three years of undergraduate study or a four-year post-secondary bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, depending on medical institution. Most require that the applicant have attained a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. Admissions criteria include overall performance in the undergraduate years and performance in a group of courses specifically required by U.S. medical schools, the score on the Medical College Admissions Test (a national standardized test), application essays, letters of recommendation (number varies, but at least 1 from science faculty and 1 from non-science faculty), and interview(s). The list of courses required are as follows: #
- biology (1 year) #
- general chemistry (1 year) #
- organic chemistry (1 year) #
- physics (1 year) #
- calculus or sometimes statistics (1 year) #
- English composition (1 year) #
- sometimes behavior science and/or biochemistry (1 semester)
Note:These subjects are studied part time, so several can be completed in one year.

#Medical School: Once admitted to medical school, it takes four years to earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine "Osteopathy" (D.O.) degree. The course of study is divided into two roughly equal parts. Preclinical study generally comprises the first two years and consists of classroom and laboratory instruction in core subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, and neurosciences. Once the student successfully completes preclinical training, he or she moves on to the clinical portion. This usually occupies the final two years of medical school and takes place a