What majors should i take?

Question

i want to be a medical scientist. WHAT should i take in high school and what classes should i take? What is a college you recommend? What majors do i need? How long will this take?

Answer 1

I was in your same place about 8 years ago. I was a sophomore in high school and discovered that I had a passion for biology and chemistry. I transfered to a science magnet high school and took chemistry, biology, physics, microbiology, anatomy, qualitative analysis (fun lab class), scientific writing and statistics, AP biology, AP chemistry, and AP environmental science. (I also took AP classes in history and enlish so that I could be well rounded). I graduated and went to a very well known science and engineering college for biochemistry. Other great majors include physiology, biology, chemistry, biophysics, etc. After graduating last year, I just started my PhD program in biomedical sciences. If you do well enough in your undergrad, a college will pay you about $25,000 a year + tuition to go to their school for graduate school (and this amount rises every year based on the state's standard of living).

If you really want to do medical research, I highly recommend finding an internship in which you can get hands on experience in a lab. Usually you can easily find one through a medical college associated with a hospital. I did my internships (though mine weren't until summers in college) at the VA hospital in my home town. In that lab, we had a high school student doing an internship as well. If you find that you like it, then you can base your schooling around this.

I would highly recommend Saint Louis University, Washington University (in StL), University of Missouri-Rolla (my alma mater), Vanderbilt, Cal Tech, MIT, etc. Almost any college with a good biology and chemistry department would be great; you don't actually have to go to one of the big name colleges (Ivy League). What matters most are your grades and the experiences you get in the lab.

Now you must remember that the whole experience will be difficult, but it can be done. It may seem like it takes a long time, but there are so many benefits to staying in school to get your Ph.D. I get $25,000 stipend throughout the year plus the $20,000 that the school pays for my tuition as well as health insurance. I also get to continue getting "student discounts" for car insurance, movie tickets, etc. I have worked extremely hard to do the best that I possibly can and it is all paying off. I should have my Ph.D within the next 5 years (hopefully it will actually only be 4 years), and then after a post-doc, I can run my own lab and conduct research to help prevent and treat cancer in better ways than we have now. It will also be nice to have that "Doctor" in front of my name!

If this sounds like what you would like to do, I hope this helps. If this sounds like it could be too much for you and you are tired of school, I have been there and completely understand (but I'm still doing it and don't regret it). There have been several times where I just wanted a break, but I stuck with it. When I needed a short break from college, I took a co-op at the VA hospital for a semester. (A co-op is when you are still registered as a full time student at your college but are actually working in your selected field for that semester. It counts as college credit too!) I have found a philosophy that has gotten me through all the studying: You must always remember to party as hard as you study or study as hard as you party. A delicate balance must be maintained in order to keep your sanity while keeping your goals in sight.
Good luck! If you have any more questions, you can email me.

Answer 2

Biochemistry is a good college major for going into medical school or graduate school for medical research. In looking for a college, choose one that has a good undergraduate research program in areas in which you are interested. That kind of research experience can really set you apart when you apply to med. or grad. schools.

In high school, don't worry about narrowning yourself down too much yet. Take Biology, Chemistry, and Physics for sure, and throw in some AP classes if you can. Don't skimp on English and History classes (even AP) since they teach you how to write and to analyze information.

Answer 3

well I am a pre-med major and their are many great colleges you can choose. If you want to do do research that is usually as long as med school so you will be in college for eight years. Desired majors are premed- biology, chemistry or medical technologist, or even nursing. In highschool take as many classes as you can in sciences in math anatomy and phys is a good class to take.
hope this helps

Answer 4

You should obtain a post graduate degree in Medical Science to become a medical scientist.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Chemistry (organic and inorganic), physics, math, biology.

Then you'd go for a degree in biophysics or biochemistry.

You'd proabably need at least 6 years of college to do anything, maybe 8 for a PHD

Answer 7

Read Emeraldeyes' answer completely.

I, however, will offer you a slightly different perspective.

WHATEVER you do in highschool, do it with EXCELLENCE. Demonstrate your broad interests, not only by taking a variety of different kinds of classes (include science of course, but don't forget about the humanities and literature! These are the things that enrich our lives - which is something that you can draw on in the world of medicine.) but also be involved in a smattering of extracurricular activities. Drink fully from the wellspring of life's offerings.

College is the time when you get to be the MOST broad and random in your explorations. If you start pretending that you're a specialist at this point in your life, you'll miss way too much. Take plenty of science, but get into a philosophy class and start an argument with someone. Take an art class. Join the rowing team. Do whatever you do at 110%, warp 9 with your hair on fire. Don't just burn the candle at both ends, but crack it in half and get two more places to light it! You'll never again be fully supported to enrich YOURSELF. If you miss out on this opportunity, you'll just be another nerd. We have plenty of those.

If you dive fully into every class you take, and if you apply 110%, then you can acheive excellent scores and be in a very competetive position, in terms of later academic applications. With a healthy foundation in science, a broad smattering of humanties experiences, and demonstrations of extracurricular interest showing the level of intensity that you are capable of, you can compete favorably for the post graduate education of your choice.

After that... go to medical school and buckle down.

There are three layers to medical science:

There is bench research, in which laboratory science leads to answers regarding questions of basic fact about the biologic "stuff" we're made of, and the chemistry we can use to modify it.

Next, there is translational research, in which discoveries and suggestions from bench research are brought into attempts at the bedside, with patients and their diseases, to effect some sort of change.

Finally, there is completely clinical research. Clinical research itself subdivides into a couple of broad types. There is prospective study, in which a question arises (like- "which do you think would be better: treatment plan A or treatment plan B?) and the question leads to an experiment. Then there is retrospective study, in which we ask a question like "Treatment plan A and treatment plan B are both in use, lets look back over a few years worth of medical records and see if one or the other seems to be obviously the better plan."

Clinical research obviously requires an extremely practical understanding of what the issues are in a given field of medicine. In short, because of this, clinical research is typically performed by doctors.

Translational research is also a direct use of science at the bedside and therefore involves the doctor in a central role. In fact, these projects are typically launched by doctors, and involve the coordinated efforts of multiple disciplines.

Bench research that directly relates to the medical field is broadly contributed to by doctors who have a dual career as clinical physicians and laboratory scientists, by medical doctors who have decided to do only laboratory research, and by laboratory scientists who have developed specific research interests that dovetail with the medical enterprise.

The bottom line, however, is that medical science is goal-oriented toward understanding health and disease. As such, it is the clinical practice of medicine that tends to dictate what is and what is not the focus of medical bench research.

In all, medical doctors contribute massively to the scientific endeavor. This is why I would favor medical school as an inroad to participation in medical science. By developing a detailed understanding of a specific clinical specialty, one can formulate more accurately those questions that are of central importance, and one can therefore direct research more precisely in ways that have immediate utility.

There are many types of clinical physician and each of these career choices involve different amounts and types of time committment. In the case of dual clinician/scientists, these time committments become lengthened. I would estimate that, in general, after a college degree, most phsyician-scientists continue to be involved in their own training for an additional 10 to 12 years, although much of that is "on the job" training that already includes that the physician is caring for patients and is contributing to research and authoring publications.

I myself am a clinical physician and I launch small clinical investigations of various sorts, on a semi-regular basis. My institution has participated in large multicentered randomized studies, some of which have yeilded important results. I am primarily a clinical physician, but I absolutely contribute to medical science. I'm biased, of course, but this is the route that I would suggest you consider.