Training. Residencies in internal medicine are 3 years long which is the same for most of the other primary care specialties as well. The benefit of internal medicine over the other primary care specialties is that there are much more fellowships for you to specialize in afterwards.
That means that a full online degree, including textbooks and other supplies needed, will probably require an investment of about $7,500 per semester, or about $30,000 total. Certificate programs, even at a fairly high professional level, can cost less because they involve fewer courses.
Tuition for Azusa Pacific Online University is $10,300 for the 2014/2015 academic year. This is 59% cheaper than the national average private non-profit four year college tuition of $25,224. The cost is $10,334 and 50% cheaper than the average California tuition of $20,634 for 4 year colleges.