Many medical students and faculty members do not question the formal pathways to becoming a practicing clinician since legal rules and regulations seem fixed; however, those who spend time in other countries discover that these pathways differ from country to country and that the standard pathway in their own country of origin does not apply universally. Based on earlier work distinguishing six pathways from secondary school to unsupervised clinical practice worldwide,1,2 we have attempted to answer, for as many countries as possible, the following question: Which of the 6 routes or pathways applies? We asked faculty, administrators, and others active in medical education: Which of these six routes is predominant in your country? We received answers from experts in 106 countries, during and before 2019. We supplemented this information with analyses of relevant documents.
