So, You Want to Be a Doctor?

[MrsK]

This was printed in the Huffington Post. Advise to high school students wanting to go into medicine. Do you think it's good advise? Did your dawkter do these things? Would you have suggested anything different?

Personally, I'm overwhelmed by how early students have to choose careers. My undergrad now requires in-coming freshmen to apply directly to the business school, engineering school, etc. When I went to college, you could graduate without having chosen a career.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marjor...b_5347725.html

[alotofyarn]

Hubby and I have done recruiting events for our undergrad, and they naturally always want to talk to him about med school. I feel like we always tell them it doesn't matter what you do in high school or what your college major is.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

DH did none of those things. I think you probably need to do at least one to be competitive currently (basically, the five can be summed up as "Have concrete experiences to back up your desire to enter medicine"). DH's philosophy all along has been to prep for the highest level of your next step and don't close any doors (so in HS, prep for great college. College - prep for med school, med school for surgery, residency for fellowship).

[MrsC]

DH actually did some of these things. He worked in a hospital one summer in high school and that got him interested in medicine and research. His undergrad was in Neuroscience and he was planning on going the PhD route until he did a research internship at a VA hospital and loved it. He only decided to go to med school then.
I think their suggestions are a bit over the top but it's a good idea to try and get an internship or something if medicine is an interest. It would be a long, long road if you had your mind set on becoming a doctor since high school.

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[v-girl]

I keep reading this to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" And now that's stuck in my head.

😵⛄️


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[scrub-jay]

I keep reading this to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" And now that's stuck in my head.

😵⛄️


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Right?! Me too!!

[Pollyanna]

That's overkill for a HS student and unnecessary IMO. Good advice for a college freshman though. Dd20 said that shadowing a physician is more valued (or that's what they tell her) now than simply volunteering. She shadowed this past semester and will start research next year.

[v-girl]

So, you want to be a doctor?
Does it have to be a doctor?



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[alotofyarn]

That's overkill for a HS student and unnecessary IMO. Good advice for a college freshman though. Dd20 said that shadowing a physician is more valued (or that's what they tell her) now than simply volunteering. She shadowed this past semester and will start research next year.

Agreed! I remember hubby had bad rec letters his first year applying because he hadn't shadowed, and the premed committee thought that was the worst thing ever. Never mind that he was a STICU tech working night shifts with some patient experience already and saw some of the physicians at their worst in there.

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