Lyrically, the song is largely about Dr. Dre and Eminem's close friendship, and how they have often needed and inspired each other in the past.
Musically, "I Need a Doctor" is predominantly a rap song, backed by a "spacey", drum-heavy production, with extra piano keys featured in the introduction and the chorus.
In the United States, it peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Dr. Dre's second highest peaking song on the chart ever.
As of October 2011, it had sold over 2,206,000 digital copies in the United States alone.
The video for "I Need A Doctor" was shot with Allen Hughes, the director of Menace II Society, From Hell and The Book of Eli.