<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I haven't been on this site for a long time now, but I was thinking that even if I do the pre-med courses in college that I would still need a major.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to specialize in oncology someday, but I was wondering which major would be the most useful for that specialization? </p>
<p>I'm thinking biochemistry, but I'm not sure. </p>
<p>Any ideas? Comments? Am I thinking too early now?</p>
<p>You're thinking too early. The best major is the one that will allow you to get into medical school. That's where you will learn what you need to learn to specialize. You're more than 8 years early.</p>
<p>^ ditto. </p>
<p>College majors don't really prepare you for specialties. They prepare you for medical school.</p>
<p>Picking a major for residency is pointless.</p>
<p>Choose a major that you find intensely interesting. The classes should be enjoyably challenging, and the professors should be the kind of people you get along with. That way, you'll have great grades, honed your critical thinking skills, and met people who can write you excellent letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>8 years...more like a decade since making a decision on a sub-specialty isn't done until the second year of an internal medicine or pediatrics residency...even later if you become interested in surgical oncology (though most general surgeons do a lot of surgeries to excise cancers), Gynecological Oncology, or Musculoskeletal Oncology (which is a subspecialty out of Ortho surgery). </p>
<p>Bottom line, focus on getting into medical school first.</p>