<p>Wow. That was really informative, P. Can you tell me what places look for in potential residents?</p>
<p>Wow, this has been such an informative thread.</p>
<p>What kind of business classes in college would you advise us to take? Just an introductory class or are there certain types that would benefit people going into the medical field?</p>
<p>I want to first of all congratulate you on thinking about medical school so early. I know you are trying to enter a program during the beginning of your undergrad but still I think it's great. I went to Cal Poly -San Luis Obispo for my undergrad and then I went to UCSF after 3 years at cal poly. This was a very fast track and I saved a lot on tuition because Cal Poly was cheap. I think you should look more into going to a full undergraduate program and then apply to any med school you wish instead of being stuck with a place you may not enjoy for 7 or 8 years. I went to UCSF in the MSTP program to earn a PhD in medical research. So far I haven't used the PhD very much with the exception of teaching some small lab meetings regarding immunosuppressants. I am looking to become an acting Medical Director at Genentech as well as practice on the side in San Francisco or Stanford. Anyways, enough about me, for you, the best bet would be to attend a 4 year undergraduate program and then apply to med school using the standard application procedures. This will allow you more time to think about medical school (a BIG decision) and you won't get yourself stuck in a place you might not like. But, if you are interested in the early entry then you may want to look at Brown University as well. I have an emergency physician friend who went to Brown for the 8 year program and he did very well. My final word of advice is to never assume that med school is so far away. The work you do in high school and especially college reflects on your whole future. Best of luck</p>
<p>zimardi, it's amazing that you're a MDPhD graduate of UCSF - so tough to get in. What was your major at CalPoly and if you don't mind telling us, how were your stats entering college?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Mediterranean:</p>
<p>My major at Cal Poly is somewhat of a mystery to most. I applied to Cal Poly as an aeronautical engineer. As soon as i finished my first quarter I switched to Music! After a few quarters of that I switched to Microbiology. I entered UCSF after three years at Cal Poly. I had a 3.8 GPA and the following MCAT scores: 11 verbal, 10 Phys. Sci., 12 Bio Sci, P on the essay. I also did extensive summer work with research and medical experience. I worked at Stanford University in the medical school in a cancer research lab. I also worked as a surgical tech in the Stanford Hospital during my undergrad. Medical experience (and research for MSTP) is very important to your application. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Dr. Sedrish what kind of doctor are you?</p>
<p>I wanna be a heart surgeon too. Look at my thread in High School Student Topics, we could be partners!</p>
<p>Heart surgeons make a median salary of $383K a year while the best of them can be paid up to half a million. They are the highest paid doctors, but it is accompanied with the highest stress as well I'd assume.</p>
<p>Dr. Sedrish- I've heard surgeons say that a family life is possible if you prioritize, but some have said that it's not much of a family life at all. I guess this depends on what your definition of a "family life" is. How many hours a week are surgeons working once in practice? How can you fit that over 7 days with call? Thanks.</p>
<p>if you are about the money mathwiz , dont do it. you will regret it your whole life. money doesnt bring you happiness in life, you may think so now, but later on when you have no family you wont think so. if you truely have an interest in hearts, their function, and how to fix them please do go into heart surgery. just dont forget that income will only come after about 10 years of training including med. school, and also meaning low pay.</p>
<p>anyone....?</p>
<p>Ok, I guess I can now answer my own question.lol. I read some other websites and talked to some people whose parents are doctors and they said that there is a difference for an academic and private practice doc. Academics are the ones that have the high number of hours worked required. Private Practice can set their own schedule or work part-time. So it all depends on how much you want to work and how much you want to make. I'm pretty sure Dr. Sedrish already said something like this on one of the old boards, sorry to bring it up again without searching for it. :)</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I would love nothing more than to become a doctor. My interest right now is cardiovascular surgery, however, I have been told that malpractice insurance is so expensive that many doctors barely make money. I find this hard to believe, but how much is malpractice insurance.</p>
<p>Thanks Journeeyh</p>
<p>It is true that malp insur. is extremely high for CT surgeons. And for the hours they work out of residency, they don't really make an extreme amount of money. Malp insurance depends on your location and tons of other factors, but if you have a big big practice in a state with high insurance rates it wouldnt be doubtful to pay over 100grand a year.</p>
<p>How many community service hours does your average medical student have? Does the community service hours really matter? What should I do to be a good applicant for Columbia medical school? By the way i am a college freshman and I only have 200 community service hours in college so far, had more high school but high school community hours do not matter. I would like to be a heart surgeon also.</p>
<p>i think that to become a (cardiothoracic, CT) heart surgeon fundamentally requires:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>excellence in sports and academics throughout your educational career (high school to college to med school and throughout residency). Most important is academics, of course; but, you need to have great hand-eye coordination, physical stamina, a steady hand and mental strength which I think are all developed with sports and/or physical activity. </p></li>
<li><p>an inherent motivation to take care of people (which for the most part overrides financial incentives).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Dr Zimardi, how do you become a surgical technician as an undergrad? are there any courses you need to take, how much does the work pay, etc. thanks : )</p>
<p>right now i'm an anesthesia apprentice and i'm interested in working in a hospital when i go to the US to study.</p>
<p>trictsurg: thats pretty much the basic and sort of outdated view of surgery in general. Many of the surgeons I know just have stamina, are thick headed, and never willing accept defeat. Sure they do sports on the side, but the truth is during residency and med school you have little time to do that, so that strength really isn't developed during that time. Surgery itself is the workout that most residents have. "Hands of God" used to be a sort of requirement for surgery, but today with technology you do not need to be perfect, just good and motivated.<br>
On the topic of your second point, that is absolutely correct, you must have that inherent motivation.</p>
<p>that's certainly correct for most of general surgery.</p>
<p>but in subspecialties that require fine motor maneuvers with delicate tissues and speed (such as doing the distal anastomosis on a 1mm target vessel - sometimes on a beating heart), the physical aspects of performing surgery are very important.</p>
<p>and i don't mean to discourage those who aspire to be CT surgeons but are not athletically inclined - certainly with practice at home tying knots, suturing grafts/tissue paper/etc. a junior resident and intern can for the most part become facile in these manuevers, have great control and become very efficient. that's what i encourage my junior residents to do (in addition to reading of course). i've seen those that have an athletic background and seem to have the physical execution of surgical maneuvers quickly learned; and then there are others...</p>
<p>working long hours definitely limits the amount of time one can exercise, but it is a key component of stress reduction, maintaining health and building stamina for those long cases. many of my colleagues and attendings have some sort of physical outlet (running, swimming, cycling, tennis, etc). time management is key to fit exercise in. </p>
<p>maybe when robotic cardiac surgery becomes more mainstream will technology make this a specialty a more level playing field when it comes to surgical skills.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/lcs/heart.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.abc.net.au/science/lcs/heart.htm</a></p>
<p>time to progress from an intern to a cardiac specialist!! this is a simulation of a coronary heart bypass.</p>
<p>hey I want to become (most hopefully) a cardio surgeon. I am willing to study. Can someone please tell me more about it?</p>