The discussion centers on how a 10th grader can prepare for a career as a surgeon, focusing on educational pathways, extracurricular activities, and the importance of maintaining good academic performance. Participants explore various strategies for gaining relevant experience and knowledge in the medical field.
Participants generally agree on the importance of maintaining good grades and gaining exposure to the medical field through volunteering and relevant activities. However, there are multiple perspectives on the best approach to preparing for a medical career, and no consensus on a single optimal path is reached.
Some limitations in the discussion include the lack of specific details about the requirements for medical school applications and the variability of college programs across different institutions.
Thank U!:)jtbell said:Assuming you're in the US, when you get to college, you'll follow whatever path they have for people who are interested in going to medical school later. Different colleges and universities do things differently, but it probably won't matter which specialty (e.g. surgery) you're aiming for.
The small college where I taught doesn't have a specific pre-medical major. Instead, a committee chooses a specific list of courses for pre-meds, who can major in anything they want so long as they can fit those courses in. The committee enforces that course list by writing recommendation letters for medical school applications, only for students who successfully complete those courses. I served on that committee for a few years, because all pre-meds there have to take freshman physics. Most pre-meds major in biology, but I remember also seeing chemistry, psychology, English, political science, and even physics. There were probably others that I don't remember.
Thank you!:)Choppy said:In high school it's very much about maintaining the best marks you can and learning as much as you can... about science, about people, about the medical profession.
Volunteering is a good thing. If you're interested in any kind of medical career, it's a good thing to try to get some kind of exposure to this as early as you can. There's a practical side to medicine that involves dealing with sick people that not everyone is cut out for, even if they are very smart. Things you can do in high school include:
- volunteering at a local hospital
- learning first aid, and then from here you can sometimes get involved with groups like St. John's Ambulance, or the Red Cross and help providing first aid at events like parades or festivals
- getting a job that involves an element of customer service
- when you're old enough you can volunteer for military service and select a medical trade
- do science fair projects that have a medical flavour such as developing an 'app' to predict blood sugar levels, etc.
The other thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to overdo it. I think a lot of people burn themselves out trying to do everything under the sun in pursuit of a long term goal that may or may not happen. There are many paths to get "there" from "here" and you don't have to be on the absolute optimal one.