Is it hard getting into medical school and how is it done?

Answer 1

Yes only a small percentage of premeds make it. Hard work, good grades, active in school activities, and pray a lot.

Answer 2

As a new doctor, I don't recommend doing it. It is a huge sacrifice - truly years of your life are spent accumulating debt, studying, and being a scut-monkey for attending physicians while your friends are working, earning a living, and starting a family.

Once you get out, regulation is increasing, law suits are increasing, costs to the doctors are rising, expectations of doctors are rising. All this is against the back drop of consistently falling salary/earning potential and progressive loss of autonomy. For example, Medicare will be cutting payments 5% every year through 2012. So while your friends get a yearly raise to match or exceed inflation, as a doctor you will watch your standard of living gradually and invariably decrease.

I can't say for sure, but at times I feel American society as a whole is de-valuing doctors and health care. How many people will gladly pay $20 for a couple movie tickets but complain about their $20 co-pay?

Answer 3

Getting into Med school is similar to getting into college, except that the bar is raised higher.
Med schools are going to look at your high school and college performance, which you should keep at least 3.5 or higher. They are also looking for people that aim a little higher than most. They will look at school, church and/or community involvement.
Just like SAT testing before college you will have to undergo MCAT's before Med school. The scores will be looked at and be regarded for acceptance. Most people start studying for the MCAT's at least six months prior. For more info on MCAT's check out:
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm
Obviously choosing medicine is a choosing to go into a highly competitive field. Many of our medical hopefuls put tremendous time, energy and thought into making themselves stand out among the rest, so if you want to be a doctor you should do the same.

Answer 4

About 30% of applicants to med schools actually get in. A good source to look at is www.studentdoctor.net, which has forums for premeds, med students and doctors. If you really, really want to become a doctor you can most likely do it, but there are a lot of trade-offs: cancelled dates, late night study sessions, big debts and a late start to your career being only some. All that said, medicine offers rewards in proportion to its sacrifices.

Answer 5

Actually, in some schools, it is getting easier. There is no longer huge amounts of $$ in medicine. The brightest are doing other things with their lives, and as a result, we are not turning out really top notch thinkers/doctors any longer. As consuming patients, we all need to know lots before we see a doc.... some are truly poorly trained, especially D.O's.

Answer 6

Better have a 4.0, or at least a 3.8, if you're a biology, biochem, or chemistry pre-med. Pre-meds in those three majors are a dime a dozen.