What kind of doctor should I be?!


Question: What kind of doctor should I be?
I am 13 and am thinking about taking a career in the medical field when I get older. I know I have many years to decide on things like this, but I am starting highschool soon. I make straight A's and am in all of the advanced classes, and have even been registered in a new Honors Biology program at the high school. I would like to know what kinds of medical science to look into, so that I can get a basic idea of what extra-curricular classes I need, and what grades will get me into a top notch medical school. I am very interested in dignostics. I love the show House and all that he and his team do. (I know it's just acting-_-) Please help by listing some medical science studies that you think are cool!

Answers:

Honestly, I'm not going to bother listing out all the different possible medical fields because there are far too many.

I was once pre-med, now fully focused on psychology, and here is was I discovered after years of working on my BA: I literally had no idea what was out there.

So my best advice to you is stick with the biology classes and take as many different subjects as you can. Make sure to include non-biology subjects--med schools like to see well rounded people (in fact, it's becoming more common for people to major in a non-biology subject and simply use their electives for all their pre-med stuff so they look more well rounded, but if you love biology, of course stick to it). The reason I suggest this is because you can discover things about biology you never knew related. Like, when I was pre-med, I read "Another Day in the Frontal Lobe" about a female neurosurgeon (which is rare), and I ended up falling in love with neuroscience, which is what I ended up emphasizing in my psychology studies.

The cool thing about high school is you can see what you like--you don't have to decide. And they will require you to take so many things that if you don't pick things you enjoy where you can, you might get burnt out.

Plus, after you get your BA or BS, then you get into medical school. Then after medical school, you apply for a residency. It tends to be in residency where you're going to pick what you want to focus on. (I'm not sure if you apply for general residencies or specific ones--but either way, that means you've got 4 years of high school, about 4 years of college, and about 4 years of med school before you have to decide, and that's a long time away.)

So, if I was you, this is what I would really do: Don't just watch House. I'm glad you know it's just TV and you're into biology and stuff. Start reading. Whatever you can that you find interesting, read. It can be "pop literature" just make sure it's non-fiction. An example I did for my high school biology extra credit was "The Hot Zone."

Invest in learning the minute details. They will come up again and again. You might not get it all down the first time, but eventually you can't keep going until you understand the basics like ATP and KREB Cycle and more.

Learn your chemistry, physics, and math well. They will come to play an important role.

And finally, if you can do it now, start volunteering. Most hospitals require you to be 16, but once you're 16, get in there! Med schools will like to see at least 1000 hours of volunteer work (or was it 1000 for vet school and 500 for med school? Either way, kind of insane, right?). What's really cool about this is that you might have to start out as a lackey, say, doing basic chores around the hospital, but you can get your name on a waiting list, and eventually many hospitals will allow you to volunteer in operating rooms or somehow work with patients, which can really help you get to know what you want.

A final idea is to go to the Princeton Review's website (you do have to register, but it's easy and they don't spam you and you should be old enough at 13), and then you can look at medical schools and see what programs they have, and you could even look at colleges and see what programs they have.

Finally, my last word, love biology, want to be a doctor, but if you find something else you become passionate about, don't become so stuck on one idea that you close yourself off to possibilities.

Best of luck!

personal experience



parasitologist




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