A Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) is a medical degree that varies in meaning between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. This generally arose because many in 18th-century medical professions trained in Scotland, which used the M.D. degree nomenclature. In England, however, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) was used: in the 19th century, it became the standard in Scotland too. Thus, in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries, the M.D. is a research doctorate, honorary doctorate or applied clinical degree restricted to those who already hold a professional degree (Bachelor's/Master's/Doctoral) in medicine. In those countries, the equivalent professional degree to the North American, and some others' usage of M.D. is still typically titled Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.
Historically, Australian medical schools have followed the British tradition by conferring the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) to its graduates whilst reserving the title of Doctor of Medicine (MD) for their research training degree, analogous to the PhD, or for their higher or honorary doctorates. Although the majority of Australian MBBS degrees have been graduate programs since the 1990s, under the previous Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) they remained categorized as Level 7 Bachelor's degrees together with other undergraduate programs. The latest version of the AQF includes the new category of Level 9 Master's (Extended) degrees which permits the use of the term 'Doctor' in the styling of the degree title of relevant professional programs. As a result, various Australian medical schools have replaced their MBBS degrees with the MD to resolve the previous anomalous nomenclature. With the introduction of the Master's level MD, universities have also renamed their previous medical research doctorates. The University of Melbourne was the first to introduce the MD in 2011 as a basic medical degree, and has renamed its research degree to Doctor of Medical Science (DMedSc). Australian National University offers a Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (MChD, abbreviated from Medicinae ac Chirurgiae Doctoranda) which is also a 4-year extended master's degree that qualifies graduates to be medical practitioners or work as surgeons.
In Austria, medical studies (medicine or dentistry) take six years full-time. In medicine, the first two years comprise basic fields of medicine such as anatomy, biology, chemistry, physics, physiology, etc., the next three years consist of all medical fields in the narrower sense with frequent bedside training and medical traineeships while the sixth and last year is dedicated solely to working in a clinic. After this, a specific six-year training (e.g. in internal medicine, paediatrics, ENT, pathology) or four year (GP) can be started; without this training, working with patients is forbidden. There is no central placement test for said specialist training, only a board-registered spot as a resident/registrar is needed. As with all other studies in Austria, there is no tuition but compulsory students' insurance (approx €38 per year). A specific entrance exam (MedAT, Medizin-Aufnahmetest, medicine acceptance test) has to be taken but is open only once a year in summer; a fee of €110 has to be paid. In 2019, 16443 persons registered for the MedAT and 12960 took the test. 1.680 university places for both medicine and dentistry are offered each year with 95% of all places for EU citizens and 75% for applicants with an Austrian higher education entrance qualification/GCE A-levels. Many Germans who are denied studying in their home country try to study medicine in Austria; hence this quota was introduced and approved by the EU as most of them leave upon graduation. The title of "Doktor" is granted to physicians (Dr. med. univ., Doctor medicinae universae, Dr. der gesamten Heilkunde = Dr. "of the entire art of healing") and dentists (Dr. med. dent., Doctor medicinae dentinae), who do not possess doctorate degrees, but Master's level 6 year-training, similar to the American MD or DDS. although they have to write a diploma thesis of approx. 50–100 pages. In former days the same title was connected to an official doctorate degree in connection with an older study regulation. The law has been changed in 2002. Some of which are published in peer-reviewed journals while others are not. A post-graduate research doctorate (Dr. scient. med., Dr. scientiae medicinae, or PhD) can be obtained after a three years post-graduate study at a medical university. All doctors may be addressed as "Doktor __", and the title is usually contracted to "Dr. ____". In many everyday-day settings in Austria,