<p>I am a sophmore in high school. I have recently been interested in becoming a surgeon. Can anybody list what I need to do to become one? For instance, where should I go to college, when to take the MCAT, etc. Thank you.</p>
<p>go to college wherever u want. Take pre-meds courses, major in whatever you want. Now heres the hard part...do well in those courses, keep your GPA up, and get involved in medically related EC's. </p>
<p>Most pre-meds take their MCATs junior year, but u can take it whenever you want. Some people take it senior year and take a year off be4 medical school to apply and all that.</p>
<p>But yea, do well on your MCATs and then apply to medical schools.</p>
<p>Now, if you are a really good student in HS, you can look into programs referred to as "combined programs" or BA/BS/MD programs, where you get a Bachelors in Arts or sciences and then you are automatically admitted to a medical school affiliated with that program. These programs are VERY VERY difficult to get into...but if you get in they kind of eliminate some stress involved in the whole becoming a doctor process because they sometimes exempt you from taking the MCATs as long as you keep your GPA up, and you dont have to apply anywhere cause you are already accepted into a medical school.</p>
<p>But like i said these programs are tough to get into, you need to have high GPA, high SAT, EC's that are solid and show interest in medicine, basically just an all around exceptional student. I knew i wanted to be a surgeon as a freshman, but I made the mistake of not looking into it enough so i didnt find out about these programs until my junior year when it was too late.</p>
<p>These programs often want 2 to 3 SAT II's in math and sciences and a strong science courseload, btw.</p>
<p>So yea i believe that takes care of the basic procedure for pre-med undergrad. Now for medical school (assuming you get in). Medical school is where it counts, you want to be able to get into a well reputable medical school because eventually you are gonna need to take your boards (which certify you for a specialty) and you are gonna need to find a good residency. Strong grades in a reputable medical school will make it easier to excel in these areas.</p>
<p>If you want specifics on anything, lemme know.</p>
<p>I also forgot to mention that those programs arent always BS/BA/MD programs, they can be any kind of degree in conjunction with an MD. For instance there are JD/MD programs. </p>
<p>Also, there are 2 different kinds of medical schools you will eventually have to apply to, one kind is MD the other is DO. MD is your conventional dr of medicine and a DO is doctor of osteopathic medicine. </p>
<p>Here is a good site that discusses the differences </p>
<p>hey, umm one piece of advice i'll give:
get 1400+ on SATs (math + verbal)
volunteer in hospital
do research if possible
do leadership stuff
visit campuses</p>
<p>sry suman, but ur advice isnt gonna help him. Being a carbon copy of every other applicant like suman is describing wont help u.</p>
<p>Do stuff u wanna do and get something out of it. Colleges like to see that more then anything. How many pre-med applicants do you think a college sees who have volunteered at a hospital...its laughable now.</p>
<p>If you go to a college that has a medical school, does that make your chances of getting into that college medical school higher or do thry not really care where you went for undergrad, just aslong as you have good grades</p>
<p>some give pref over their undergrad students. So you may get somewhat of an advantage.</p>
<p>Some also give u automatic interviews to their medical school if u went to their undergrad. I think Columbia does this.</p>
<p>So basically its not a huge advantage but then, what if someone from Harvard and someone from .. a really ****ty school get the same grades the WILL take the person from Harvard right .. or maybe not admissions are crazy these days?</p>
<p>really depends on alot more then just that, interviews, EC's, passion, essays, MCATs...who knows.</p>
<p>Univ of Rochester had this rep that it doesnt really look bad if you get so so grades there because med schools will know "its the univ. of rochester" that turned out to be BS, those people who got the so so grades got screwed over.</p>
<p>So just because its a good school does not always mean they will tkae u over sum average school</p>
<p>Just do well wherever u go and get really involved. You will get accepted sumwhere.</p>
<p>OK thanx dide! So do you think that one should not volunteer at a hospital or that one should but they should just do a lot of other things that are not typical for med students ASWELL.. like taking art courses if they're also interested in art or... something like that</p>
<p>im not saying dont volunteer at a hospital...but just that isnt enough anymore. </p>
<p>The only medical-related part of that experience is the word hospital and schools know that. </p>
<p>Do other things like work in a lab, research, shadow, EMS, stuff where you actually learn things besides how to push a wheel chair.</p>
<p>Really, just do whatver you wanna do, but if ur worried about getting into medical school, u should try to focus on things that show you are really interested in medicine.</p>
<p>Got it - thanx dude</p>
<p>Hey Doogie, if I were to do a whole bunch of shadowing (hopefully I'll be able to get into an 8 week internship), but don't do hospital volunteering (I did it for a month but the hospital was so well staffed that I got in the way more than I helped), do you think the BA/MD programs would look down on me? ie "he isn't interested in helping people, just getting into the program."</p>
<p>Also, my non-medically related ECs take up a lot of time too, so I wouldn't be able to volunteer during the school year even if I wanted to.
Thanks</p>
<p>hey, well i was just telling him stuff you have to have as your foundation and then build upon those stuff. i didn't want him to be a "carbon copy" but know what every "carbon copy" has for their stats so he could have those things and then other things to get the school interested in him</p>
<p>ya i know wut u mean.</p>
<p>As for billybob for BA/MD programs, i do think its important to have ECs that show interest in medicine, so i think u should really take a look at what EC's ur really involved in now and take priorities. Obv if some are really important to u, i would encourage u to continue those, but u def need to show interest in medicine sumwhere. </p>
<p>But as for shadowing vs. hospital volunteering...personally i feel shadowing looks better. I shadowed and I loved it, but i also do alot of EMS so it was a step down for me, i didnt get to do as much as i usually did.</p>
<p>Doogie, you did/are doing EMS work in high school? That's pretty cool. I didn't know you could do that. At least, from what I've read, you can't do it where I live (HS diploma/GED is required).</p>
<p>Doogie - 2 questions:
1)What is shadowing<br>
2) "so i think u should really take a look at what EC's ur really involved in now and take priorities." WHAT are you talking about high school level ??? :( .. or college level .....</p>
<p>both, the things i do as a HS student are the same things many/most pre meds do be4 medical school</p>
<p>shadowing is when u work close with a doctor and just basically follow him around and see what he does all day. You should prob friend sum1 u r friendly with and u know really well if u wanna do this. I did it with my cuz who is a vascular surgeon, a good friend of mine who is an emergency room doc, and other doctors ive just become close with through EMS.</p>