med school?

Question

i am a highschool student in Canada, im going to graduate next year (2008). i am considering to go to med school (in Canada or U.S.) and become a doctor and i really want to go to Harvard... ive been doing my research but still a little confused... can somene please tell me how and something about pre-med and those kind of stuff...

thnx guys...these really helps

Answer 1

Sure.
First, make sure you are up to date on the pre-requisites, which are:4 years of Mathematics, and completion in college prep Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
There are two types of pre-med programs. A normal Pre-Med program last 4 years, referred to as a 4+4, and an accellerated program lasts 3 years, referred to as a 3+4. The accelerated program is for high school students that have essentially started college courses before going to college.
Either way Pre-Med works the same way. The first year of Pre-Med is going to be set courses, Biology,chemistry, mathematics, ect. The other 3 years you are free to choose a major. Most people choose Biology by aproximately 70-75 percent, or chemistry as their major, but you are free choose any major you want. Approximately one third of all med students majored in something other than a science, Art, Lit,ect. This is because medical schools look for diversity in their applicants.
On to Med School. This is where th MCAT's come in. To be accepted to a Medical School you will have to take the "Medical College Admittance Test, MCAT". Typically, you should start to study for this at least one year before applying to a Medical School.Check this out for more info: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm
Another very important thing to keep in mind is that Medical Schools look beyond MCAT scores and GPA's, which are extremely important seeing as the average GPA for a med student is around 3.5. The will also look at your involvement in your community, church, and/or school.
Med School last for 4 years. This is the +4 in either the 4+4, or the 3+4 program. In med school you will learn the nuts and bolt of being a doctor. You will learn much more in-depth on the workings of the human body, including everyones favorite, Gross Anatomy.
After Med School come Internship, which last for one year. You spend the year learning how to manage patients and making (simple) decisions. Most of your time is spent taking care of patients, learning procedures (i.e. central lines), and basic operative techniques.Very long hours and many bedpans later we move to:
Residency. Residency is a bit more tricky. Tipically a standard Physician will be a resident for one year. A general Surgeon wil be a resident for two years. Deciding to choose a speciality increases the length of residency. Medical residency gives in-depth training within a specific branch of medicine, such as anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, pediatric medicine, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, radiology, radiation oncology, general surgery. The field of surgery has several specialties such as neurosurgery, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, and urology.
For instance U.S. neurosurgical residencies are between six and eight years, including internship. Typically most programs require:
One year of internship
One to two years as a junior resident seeing consults, doing basic operative and bedside procedures
One to two years of research - some programs allow you to do a fellowship during this time
One year as chief resident

Here are a list of resources that I use and have found valuable. They range in topics but have a wealth of information. I wish you good luck, and just remember that you don't have to know everything now. There are many choices that you will not have to make for a while. Take it in stride, one step at a time.

http://www.admissionsboards.com/default.asp?CAT_ID=8
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12
http://www.aamc.org/
http://www.aats.org/index.html
http://www.aans.org/default.asp
http://www.facs.org/
http://www.sts.org/
http://www.medicalstudent.com/
http://residency.wustl.edu/

This is an excellent web site if you are thinking about being a surgeon, warning, actual sergical procedures.
http://www.or-live.com/

Anatomy sites.
http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/courses/anat/learningAids.cfm
http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/toc.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~anat550/embryo_main/index.html
http://netanatomy.com/default.htm

Answer 2

First you have to go to an undergraduate institution, where you will major in pre-med, which is heavy in chemistry and biology and that kind of thing. Then you take your MCATs, and it is the score on those that helps determine what med school you can get into (kind of like the SATs).

Then there are programs that are a dual undergrad and med school program, and typically last 5 or 6 years.

Answer 3

I'm planning on going into medical school too. Some schools do offer pre-med, but if you realize that it's not what you want to do, you can't do anything else with a pre-med degree. It's smart to major in a general science like biology or chemistry. From what I understand, you have to have organic chemistry, chemistry, biology and physics all as pre-reqs to med school.
Undergrad>Med School>Intern at a hospital (1 yr)>Resident at a hospital (3 yrs)>Fellowship (# of years depend, this is usually if you want to specialize in something particular - for example pediatric cardiology).
Hope this helps.
:)

Answer 4

In general, med school is definitely harder to get in to. There are too many law schools. Even the ABA approved ones (the bottom ranked ones) will take nearly anyone. Law school and med school aren't easy. Yes, there comes a point where even a ABA law school will stop accepting people, but at that point, the student is so bad that maybe grad school really shouldn't be in their plans.

Answer 5

You don't have to major in "pre-med". Most schools don't even have a "pre-med" program. Technically, you can't "major" in pre-med because you can't get a bachelors degree in "pre-med".

Calling yourself "pre-med" just means you want to go to med school eventually. You can actually major in anything you want for US med schools. They just want you to take certain prerequisite courses (which is pretty heavy in science courses, obviously, but has other subjects too).

You take the MCAT, which is a standardized test med schools use to help determine whether to take you.

Extra currics and letters of recommendation are also things you usually send with your application.