in other countries, such as the united kingdom and germany, the doctor of medicine is an advanced academic "research" degree similar to a phd or a higher doctorate. in britain, ireland, and many commonwealth nations, the qualifying medical degree is the bachelor of science in medicine, bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (mbbs, bmbs, bm bch, bm, mb bch bao, or mb chb) and is the same as the m.d. degree in the u.s. system.