<p>Do you think you could elaborate specifically on opthamology/laser surgery type of doctorship? I am very interested in that field of study, but I feel that it does not need the vast amounts of training as some of the other fields.</p>
<p>My uncle is a veterinary ophthalmologist and required much MORE residency time than normal. Frankly, that makes sense to me - generally, the more specialized an area is, the longer the residency.</p>
<p>I can't comment specifically on laser surgery, but that would be my guess. It is probably comparable to a surgical residency: 5-7 years.</p>
<p>But that is just a guess on my part.</p>
<p>You're in high school. You don't yet know what specialty you want. At least 50% of med students change their minds about their speciality when they are in med school, either because it wasn't what they thought it was, or because they liked something else better, or any other reason under the sun. Furthermore, you don't NEED to know. Please do not plan your college career with a specialty in mind. It won't mean anything to a med school. if you're interested in medicine and you have some experiences in the general field, great. But they don't care about specifics because they know people change their minds. That's why the entire third year of med school is structured for students to experience many departments. And for residency applications, they absolutely do not care about anything you may have done before medical school.If I may be blunt, you don't even really know you want to be a doctor yet. You may change your mind, and that's OK. Choose a college major you are passionate about - you can enter med school with ANY major. My husband goes to UChicago's med school with music majors, history majors, communications - you get the idea. My point is that while there's value in planning and being driven, there's a point when your laser focus will make you actually less appealing to schools. At Uchicago, for example, they seek students who have had a variety of experiences. My husband did medical research, trained for the Olympics in taekwondo, tutored, and traveled the world before he applied to med school. Ulitmately it was these things which garnered him acceptance. Chill out and enjoy life.</p>
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Ulitmately it was these things which garnered him acceptance. Chill out and enjoy life.
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<p>I keep saying this, but nobody listens to me because, "What would [I] know?"</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>Hey, what has life experience taught us if not that? :) I hope, however, that I did not imply that I approve of straight resume-building activities. Colleges, universities, med schools see so many students with a laundry list of things they have done that they just aren't impressed anymore. What they ARE impressed by are students who have done a few things intensely that they are passionate about and can discuss at length. My husband's interview for med school at UChicago lasted about 4 times longer than anyone else's, because they got to talking about his travels and experiences. In short, it is NOT impressive to write on your application, "I was in 15 different extracurriculars and held numerous offices, all while holding a high GPA." Yawn. if you read this board, you know you're not the only one. It IS impressive to say, "I spent 3 years developing/learning/exploring/researching ..." Again, pick something you are passionate about and do it. And choose without worrying or even thinking about how it will look on your application or resume. Make it interesting and keep your grades up, and be prepared to have great discussions about what you have done. That's all that matters.</p>
<p>Hi Desp,</p>
<p>I'm seriously considering the University of Chicago's medical school. I may try to contact you more later to talk about the decision as acceptances and rejections roll in.</p>
<p>I'd love for you to contact me at mal20 at duke.edu.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Mike</p>
<p>One point worth making is that some schools end up overrun with pre-meds and basically don't want to admit many of them from the applicant pool. Unless you're going pre-professional or something similar, I would recommend entering "undecided" as a major, even if you're sure you want to be a doctor.</p>