I suggest you research some other careers and begin selling your parents on them.
I wouldn’t want my kids to be doctors unless that was their dream–it’s a tough life and if you just want a good salary, there are far easier paths.
Perhaps you should show your parents information that shows that being a doctor doesn’t always lead to the wonderful life that some people imagine. If it did then perhaps physicians wouldn’t have such high rates of drug abuse and suicide, particularly for female doctors.
Too many people romanticize the life of a physician based on the perceived prestige and higher than average income but most studies I’ve read suggest that the stress can lead to serious life issues that occur less often in other professions. In addition, people in health care professions are less likely to seek help with these problems because of the stigma attached to them. Personally, I really like and admire the doctors I know but I’m pretty glad neither of my kids was interested in practicing medicine.
https://tsnnews.com/professions-with-the-highest-rates-of-drug-use/
One of my relative suggested my daughter to become a MD because she would be able to do it and having an MD in the extended family is very beneficial to all.
But she was horrified by the prospect of 4 years of medical schooling after ug degree and then still going to years of medical training to become a specialized doctor. It doesn’t seem to be a rewarding path at all to her, not a good return of investment, except for those who genuinely wants to become a MD regardless of the financial benefit.
So for very selfish and practical reasons, she doesn’t want to be a doctor, and that’s how she convinced others who had the silly expectation.
Where did this fallacy that doctors are unpaid and unhappy come from? It’s hogwash. Half of my husband’s best friends are MDs and they love it. Good money, meaningful work, comfortable lifestyle. If it was a terrible profession it wouldn’t be so cutthroat to get into a medical school.
There’s no belief that they’re unpaid, but they often come out of school with over 100k in loans and residency does not pay well for a lot of hours.
underpaid**
Relax- do as suggested in post #1.
My husband and I are both physicians and we used to tell people our gifted son was too smart to become a physician. He simply had no interest and did not take the courses required for medical school in college. It takes a huge amount of work and being bright to learn the material and do the work required to be a physician but the smartest people often have other interests. He majored in what he liked- math then added computer science. He didn’t even choose grad school- perhaps wise as many with PhD’s have trouble finding jobs. He works in software development/engineering (job title depends on the company) and so far is being intellectually challenged. Being highly intelligent does not mean one should be a physician. There is so much more to life. If your parents think that is tops in prestige they are wrong. Well educated people, physicians included, know better. There are also easier ways to make money. The best thing to do is to be interested in something and pursue it with passion- you will most enjoy yourself. What is that? You may discover it sometime in college or even later.
Your parents will eventually get used to the fact that not being a physician does not mean you are a failure, lack prestige, etc. No need to worry about it now since you will be taking the same HS courses and doing your best no matter what your future holds. Once in college you major in whatever you wish to. You do/do not take courses needed to get into medical school- but that is so many years in the future so much will happen before then.
You can tell your parents that physicians are a very diverse group of people. They have had many different undergraduate interests and majors. Feel free to take as much science or not in HS. If Literature is more to your liking take more of that and less science than possible in HS. What you do in HS will have no effect on getting into medical school so no burden now. Your parents have a few years to learn more.
Enjoy your HS years- explore many things.
Addenda- we do know children of physicians who currently are in/out of medical school. Their parents never told them they should become physicians, it happens to be what they wanted. Life is far from perfect for physicians. We also know plenty of physician offspring who chose to have nothing to do with it.
I think “become a doctor” is another way of saying aim very high. It’s a goal that requires acing accelerated math and science in high school and volunteering. If you get to college “prepared” to pursue medicine you have OPTIONS. Too many kids are vague, too many parents allow kids to slack and have half-baked plans. No doors are closing if your parents want you to “become a doctor.” On the other hand I just read MOST doors are closed if you’re get to college unprepared for a stem concentration.
Agree perhaps this is what your parents mean- they probably are not aware of the fact that there are many other ways to aim high. For HS taking many rigorous classes in both STEM AND nonSTEM classes will give you the best education to prepare you for college. PS- those who dislike STEM classes likely wouldn’t open those doors unavailable to them if they could.
Quote of the day! 
“I think “become a doctor” is another way of saying aim very high” - Maybe some parents mean that, but I did not when I said the same thing to my D. I meant only job security, meaning having a job vs not having one, not so much the high salary or recognition. However, I also perceived that my D’s personality will fit well into the field of medicine and specifically of MD (being more in charge than other positions in medicine). OP’s parents must see something in their kid that the kid does not feel (yet?) or they may simply mistaken. Then it may not play out the way they plan, not at all.
Now, academics is only one side of it. Liking STEM is not as crucial as some personality traits. Achieving necessary stats is only half of the story here.
Due to the lost years of income during Med School, high buildups of student loans, and mediocre Residency pay, some MDs end up with a lifetime income not much higher than skilled tradesmen. Thomas J. Stanley also writes about the problem of many MDs being “under accumulators of wealth” (high-income/low-wealth); when they are finally making 250K a lot of that money is going out the door for the Big House, BMW, and Rolex.
Yes MD is such a terrible profession I hear medical school acceptance rates are going to soar to 90% this year. It’s meaningful work, high status, high pay, community leader, and virtually nonexistent risk of unemployment. Horrible to aim for such a profession…
"Big House, BMW, and Rolex. " are still part of assets, a.k.a the personal worth. Is not personal worth the same as wealth? BMW is not that expensive anyway and Big house may not be very expensive either in some areas, like ours. In our area, the MDs live in the houses comparable to others. In fact, I have at least 2 neighbors who are MDs, the ones that I know, one right across from us and another on a side, I bet there are more. The are not young MDs either, have adult children. We bought our house for $160k and now it is a bit more than $200k. We paid it off easily, I bet that our neighbor did the same. These can hardly justify saying that their $250+k income goes mostly for mortgage payment. We all drive comparable cars also, Lexus, BMW, Audi. Our family is NOT high earning family at all, no MDs, except for D., who lives in more poor area than ours in different city and who seem to survive on her resident salary, although it is low, I agree with that.
From what I see around us, none of the MDs were in pursuit of huge money and all live pretty modestly. It may be a different story at other locations and I am sure that the docs of TV show “Botched” probably have much more luxurious accommodations and fancy cars than I see around us.
Poppycock. There is NO requirement for accelerated math and science in HS to be accepted to medical school. NONE! In fact, when you apply to medical school, you do not include your HS transcript AT ALL. And if your first math course in college is calculus, you won’t be the only one.
This is garbage too. There are plenty of successful college graduates and professionals who do NOT want anything to do with a STEM concentration…at all.
Both my Dad and FIL were Drs, though in very different fields, so I am posting with some inside insights, and no animosity toward Medecine as a career. They both warned eager would-be Med students about the debt and deferred gratification that is a part of the road to being a Dr. - They also had colleagues who were under-prepared for retirement because of the spending sprees they went on once the salary kicked in. Both my Dad and FIL lived below their means and saved and invested considerably for a comfortable retirement. When you retire you have to live on assets, not the things you have bought.
“Thomas J. Stanley also writes about the problem of many MDs being “under accumulators of wealth” (high-income/low-wealth); when they are finally making 250K a lot of that money is going out the door for the Big House, BMW, and Rolex.”
There’s nothing intrinsic to being a doctor that requires that one buy a Big House, BMW, or Rolex. Anyone in any high paying profession can choose to live below, at or above one’s means.
JD, you’re completely wrong about acing accelerated math and science in high school as “necessary.”
Rolex’s depreciate by at least 50% when you walk out of the jewelry store, so anyone who is including a contemporary Rolex as part of their net worth and “worth” the investment needs a basic financial planning course.
Miami- you love to remind us that you have an MBA…I won’t even touch the depreciation factor on a BMW. The fact that one model of a car “holds its value” better than another model does NOT make that car a good investment.
One can also plan the “no debt” scenario. Given that all pre-meds are very top caliber students, there are plenty of colleges, public and private, that offer them free tuition college education based on Merit awards. Then if kid choose wisely, she may negotiate with parents paying for the medical school instead. It is done. The % of “no student loans” medical school graduates is low, only about 16%. The problem is that they are way too ambitious to settle for the cheap (for them!) college and aim at the expensive ones. But there are others, who plan strategically and it has paid off for them.
Anyway, all of these are just detailed technicalities, little obstacle that could be easily overcome with proper planning. However, if person does not have the heart set out on this very torturous path, it will not play out in any positive way, I do not see how. The hardest parts are not even financial at all.