Medical School?!?

Question

I am 13,when I get older I wanna study medicine.
In highschool what classes should you take?
Anyway you can study now?

Answer 1

You've got a long way to go, but start now.

First of all, high school is not going to be your springboard into medical school. College will be. But high school gets you into college. Do EXTREMELY well in high school (straight A's) so you can land at a good university. That means practice for the SAT. Take lots of honors classes. Do a lot of extracurricular activities (student gov, sports, clubs, community service, church, Scouts, etc.). Technically, it shouldn't matter what college you go to, as long as you do well. But the reality is, having a degree from UC Berkeley looks a lot better than having a degree from Po-dunk State.

Once you get into college, you can do ANY major and be eligible for medical school as long as you complete the medical prequisite coursework. And no, AP/IB credits will not count!

Preqs include:
Baccalaureate coursework must include:
1 year general chem (with lab)
1 year organic chem (with lab)
1 year general biology (with lab)
1 year intro. physics (with lab)
1 year English
1 year calculus
Suggested coursework includes: psychology, statistics, biochemistry, humanities

The trick is to NOT major in biology. Biology major pre-meds are a dime a dozen, and they will be your stiffest competition for A's. You want A's. To get them, become a HUMANITIES major, ace the easy fluffy stuff, then focus your power on the prereqs. You'll graduate with a higher GPA, and not suffer from much of the stress the rest of us feel when we're up against 400 bio majors with the same goal of topping the curve. I was a molecular biology major, and it singlehandedly ruined my chances of getting into medical school.

Anyway, so if you really must know some nitty gritty, you want to look for a statistic called "matriculation rate" and see the proportion of students who apply versus get into medical school. Generally, top tier schools have higher matriculations rates.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Focus on chemistry, biology, and english. You might wonder why I say "English". Once you graduate high school, you will probably have a major in one of the sciences, and you may only take one or two more English classes in college. So, try to improve your writing now. I also think it catches a lot of pre-med students off guard how much chemistry they need to learn for med school. While you are in high school, do some kind of volunteering in a medical facility, like a nursing home, hospital, etc. Do ANYTHING that let's you see what it's like and especially something that gives you the chance to talk to patients.

Answer 3

I have kind of the same dream-I'm reading Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine right now-lots of background info.

Make sure you take all the required classes and then take science and math as much as you can all the way through high school.

These will be hard classes, but just because the girl in pottery has a better GPA than you doesn't mean shes smarter than you.

Answer 4

Sure you can study now...at Barnes and noble or on amazon or any retail bookstore if you search in the Anatomy section there is a very thick paperback book that is an anatomy coloring book. No joke... I bought it in middle school and while som eof the stuff in it is hard to understand it was an awesome book! I wish I still had it so I could tell you the name of it!! But.. I do know it is the only anatomy coloring book out there

Answer 5

You still have a long time before you decide thats what you want. You're only 13, a lot of things have yet to happen in your life.

Realize that it will take a lot of hard work, and that many great students don't get in. The odds are against you

Answer 6

Take lots of science classes (chemistry, biology, physics). Take all of the AP science classes that you can take. Also, take lots of math classes. Perhaps you can also find an internship at a doctor's office.

Answer 7

Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics.