I really want to be a doctor?

Question

But I wasn't that great in High School Biology due to a health issue. Will Pre-Med schools look down on this?

Also-
Any doctors who have ahad to work on Cadavers( Dead people) Can you tell me what is is like?

Answer 1

I graduated in Biology and went on to Nursing. I worked on Cadavers in Anatomy for the former, and it's fine. Not a problem really.

Besides, you cannot train to be a doctor (or a nurse) in a hospital without seeing dead people and you will soon get over it!

They dont look real in a way. More like working with a dummy that has a meat-like consistency. That sounds gross but anyway. If you have less good Biology I am not sure being a doctor is the right course until you have taken another one to over-ride the one you didnt do well in, its very important. Try Nursing, Physiotherapy, Mental Health, Social work....?

You dont have to be a doctor, it's a very long course anyway and you wont have a social life ever again!!!

Answer 2

If the only weakness in your application is your high school biology grade, you should have no problem, assuming that you didn't fail it, or that if you did, you can demonstrate why (not just explain, but demonstrate), as with a letter from your doctor or copies of your relevant medical records. With good grades elsewhere, a good GPA in an academic major (not PE or voice), letters of recommendation, and good MEDCAT scores, your application is still competitive.

Working on cadavers may take a little getting used to - especially if you find the smell of chloraldehyde sickening or have a phobia about dead bodies (rare). So, there's usually no reason why you couldn't do it.

Dissecting a cadaver is long and tedious work, but not unpleasant after it becomes familiar, nor boring. Dissection is generally done in an anatomy lab by a group of students per cadaver, with the help of anatomy textbooks and a teacher, often an anatomy graduate student assisting your professor.

I personally didn't like dissecting or even being there while it was being done - but I'm not a surgeon and didn't need to learn to dissect tissues, just to identify them on already dissected cadavers. So, I spent more time in the lab when nobody was dissecting to study what had already been dssected, and less when actual dissection was taking place. For nonsurgeons, the skill is in knowing the parts, not separating them.

Answer 3

Don't sweat the whole Biology blunder, you had a reasonable explanation, and no one cares about bloody high school biology once you get into college and med school.

I'm a physician and I was terrified when I was first faced with dissecting a dead human being who smells like pickled herring which you can't get out of your clothes or hands even with the best gloves in the world. But you know what... you get over it real quick. For like 2 days I couldn't eat roast beef, I got queasy, but within a week in Anatomy lab, it's no big deal. As you start learning how this beatiful machine is put together, you focus on learning as much as you can especially if you are interested in surgery. I don't know a single person in my med school class who didn't get over Anatomy Lab, so don't let that scare you.

The career is very hard by any standard. You are held to a very high standard and the level of stress in all specialties is quite high. The reimbursment is low considering how much money, time, etc. that you've put into it. But it's a very personal decision that only you can make.

Answer 4

One high school biology course should not hold you back if you otherwise have a good record and SAT scores for college admission. You do not need to be a pre-med major in college to get into med school. I was, and I got in - but my friends who did not get into med school had a pre-med degree which wasn't as useful for other things as a degree in chemistry or biology or even humanities might have been.
Med schools will not look at one high school biology grade.

No one in my med school class had any trouble dealing with cadaver dissection for anatomy in med school.

Answer 5

Start acting like doctors.

As far as my knowledge goes, High school biology shouldnt hamper ur progress.

If @ all u assume it does, be prepared with a lame excuse as doctors usually do !!

Answer 6

Modern medicine has it's plusses, but the truest form of healing is maybe Qi-kung practitioning... It takes just as long to learn it, but you are also helping the Earth, more than modern medicine... And you won't need to get near Cadavers.

Answer 7

looks down yes
nothing its temporary and important