Many engineers say that Physics is the best way to know if you’ll enjoy engineering or not. What class in high school is most indicative of whether I’ll enjoy medicine or not? Which extracurricular activities will help me discover if medicine is a good career for me?
Biology, chemistry, physics, math / statistics, and any class that has competitive grading (“on a curve”, though this is more common in college than in high school).
Volunteering or paid work in health care contexts and/or charitable service for the more disadvantaged members of society, particularly patient / client contact roles. However, these may not be as available for high school students as college students.
But note that getting into medical school involves the highly competitive pre-med weed-out process. Most frosh pre-meds eventually do not apply to medical school for various reasons (e.g. grades too low, MCAT too low, lost interest, etc.), and <40% of those who do apply get admitted to any medical school (and usually just one, so no choice for lower cost or anything else). So be sure you have other plans in the likely case that you do not get into medical school.
Besides liking and excelling in your science classes, you need to actually enjoy the work that is involved. You might not have these experiences until college or in the years following.
You should enjoy shadowing, volunteering, etc. This includes working in underserved communities and with people who may be different than you (homeless people, refugees, etc).
I think some students think premed/medicine is always exciting. This is false. When my daughter shadowed a pediatrician she actually found it to be a little boring and mundane. She spent the day watching kids get routine physicals and the doctor (not his staff) on the phone dealing with insurance. She did not like primary care, yet that is what is needed.
I think there are a lot of students who excel in the hard science classes that they take in college, yet change their mind about going to medical school once they realize that other careers appeal to them more. They did not have exposure to these classes/experiences/careers in HS.
One last thing- students may think they are ok dealing with blood etc. Some change their mind about medicine (MD, DO, BSN, NP, PA) once they realize they are not.
2 Likes
None, in my opinion. To really know whether you’ll enjoy medicine or not you need shadowing and volunteering experience like @twogirls said. You could love your bio class and hate spending all day, every day, with sick patients.
2 Likes
Also many kids drop out of this path when they realize that medicine is a labor of love, and not necessarily the best path if you are only interested in money or wlb. It is very very late gratification. A service orientation is essential if you are going into medicine
2 Likes
I don’t think you need to worry about this right now. You can major in anything in college and still go to med school (as long as prereq’s are met; depending on finances these can even be covered in a post-bacc program). You may very well change your mind, too, so try to stay open to many paths, while still in high school.
By all means volunteer or shadow when the time is right.
1 Like
No class can tell you if being a doctor is what you might want as a career. You need to sit down and talk to a few doctors in varying specialties, and ask them what they like the most and least about their jobs. Perhaps someone will allow you to shadow them at their office…you can ask.
For the record, one of my kids was an engineering major in college. She realized she loved the courses but never wanted to work as an engineer. Picked up a second major that more relates to what she is actually doing.
My point is…loving the courses has absolutely zero to do with loving a profession as a JOB.
As noted…you can major in anything to apply to medical school. Look at the required courses for medical school applicants, and just be sure you have a good foundation to do well in those courses once you get to college.
The best way to tell if medicine is for you is by shadowing a physician. Different types of physicians if possible: primary care, ER, surgery. The lifestyles and pay varies considerably.
High school classes are not really indicative of medical school. The closest is probably biology. You really have to like science.
These days, the only reason to go into medicine is if you have a calling for it, like the priesthood. If you passionately wanted to be a doctor, you’d know it already. If you’re not sure you’re up for the incredibly competitive and long hard slog, consider nursing, and going on for NP or “doctor” of nursing practice. It’s the easiest, cheapest, quickest way into practicing medicine independently. One tenth the training, non-competitive, and at the end of it you get to play at being a doctor. Pretty much the only thing that you wouldn’t be able to do is surgery or things that require hospital privileges. Anything that you decide to call yourself, you can hang out your shingle and do it in office.
You can get your RN at a community college program in 2 yrs, for about 10K. Then an 18 month RN to BSN program at a state college for another maybe 15K. Work for 2 years inpatient, preferably moving up to an ICU setting, although there are so many NP and DNP programs popping up that they may take you without your even having done any actual bedside nursing - there are even programs which are largely online. Do a 2 yr NP program. And voila! You’re an NP, you can practice medicine in many states unsupervised, and you did it for very little money, with no overnight work. In terms of life/health/work balance, and cost, it’s the obvious way to go.
I disagree with this, not to mention it has become quite difficult for HS students to find shadowing gigs for a number if reasons.
IMO the best way for a student to know if they want to become a doctor is to actually care for patients, including those who are sick. HSers can serve in rolls such as asst CNA, asst EMT, and/or volunteer at the hospital or local assisted living center or hospice to get this experience. Until a student has seen what caring for a sick person entails they have no idea what caring for others is like (unless they want to be in a non-patient facing role)…seeing bodily fluids and death, dealing with unstable patients who may kick, bite, or otherwise get physical with their caregivers, etc are all important experiences to understanding some of the physician jobs that may ultimately be available to this student.
5 Likes
If you are eligible, I absolutely agree with @Mwfan1921
HSers can serve in rolls such as asst CNA, asst EMT, and/or volunteer at the hospital or local assisted living center or hospice
But again there is no need to decide on a career path while still in high school, or even college major.
I agree you don’t have to decide in HS, but without actual experience I push back on students I work with who say they ‘know’ they want to be a physician. In many states most students who are 16 can become assistant CNAs and work or volunteer in healthcare settings.
1 Like
I believe I know a high schooler who worked on the town’s EMT squad. Not sure of the eligibility age for that. I trained as an EMT myself to help with a job I had (homeless shelter) and it is pretty rigorous but doable. Red Cross has CNA training programs.
I wonder if high schoolers tend to think in career categories that are clearly defined and shown on media: doctor, lawyer, nurse, firefighter…college can open the world up a bit!
1 Like
Yes, some 16 year olds can become assistant EMTs in some states and I agree it’s great experience. And many areas don’t have enough EMTs.
And even then there can still be a wake up call.
I did have a lot of patient facing experiences, including as a certified medical assistant, and it still didn’t prepare me for being in a big city hospital setting on the wards. That combined with organic chemistry was enough to know I was on the wrong path!
And OP - you don’t need to know now. I saw in another thread you were talking about CS. Plenty of students start college undeclared or switch majors. Spend the time in HS exploring your interests and continue doing so in college. Just pick a college list where you don’t need to declare your major until sometime sophomore year and where it’s easy to switch around. Those schools do exist.
2 Likes
OP when you reference medicine, are you thinking medical school? PA? Nursing? I assumed medical school but might be wrong.
Our town has an EMT program for HS students. You might want to see if something like this is available.
1 Like
Great advice in this thread.
I suggest starting off by volunteering (or shadowing if you have the connections to find it) before investing in a certification. There are volunteer options for HS kids at nursing homes, homeless shelters, etc. If you still feel medicine is a calling after that, then look into the assistant CMA or EMT options… baby steps. You have time.
1 Like
First off my son is a recent engineer and physics wasn’t his thing. The way they learn and the analytical thinking was.
There is no class. The one thing missing here is that you “need” to have a “want” to help people. Plain and simple. I knew I wanted to be a doctor at around 9 years old. Later on when I was in middle school and at away camp some girl on a hike sprained her ankle. I was the one that wrapped her ankle (not sure why the counselors didn’t… Lol) and when she got back from the ER they made sure to tell me that the ER doctor was impressed with my ankle wrap… 
.
This means wanting to help everyone. No just those that look like you.
Many back in the day were psychology majors.
Take classes that excite and challenge you. Not everyone is excited about the chemistry or biology but having an interest to learn more is key and to answer the question of “why”.
Go into medicine because “you” want to. Not because it’s “expected” of you.
Also don’t judge medicine on who’s office you visit. Those experiences will differ and could turn you off. I am a medical mentor and I hear the good /bad stories. Look past that. Does what they are doing make you have further questions and get you excited to learn more?
2 Likes
There are many different way to work in a medical profession. There are jobs that you’ve never even heard of.
This is searchable database of healthcare profession jobs to help you get some additional ideas.
As mentioned above you don’t need to be any particular major to ecome one a doctor, but you do have to like science (esp. bio and chem) and be proficient at it. one of my daughter majored in physics & math, the other in math and neuroscience–both became doctors. They had classmates in med school with a really wide variety of majors–like forestry, music, theology/religious studies, sports communications, and Italian.
Becoming a physician is a calling, rather like the calling to become a priest/preacher. you have to want to do it deep down inside yourself.
There’s saying among med school adcomm members-- if there is anything else you think you might be happy doing as profession–do that, not medicine.
In high school, volunteering with disparaged/disadvantaged groups is good place to start. If you can volunteer in a nursing home or hospice center to get some exposure to patients, that’s even better.
4 Likes
Shadowing a CNA, EMT or hospice will give a high schooler an idea of what its like to deal with sick people. But it doesn’t tell you what its like to be a physician. There is a big difference between the day-to-day work of a physician vs other allied health professions.
There is a reason why most med school committees look for physician shadowing. Thats because a physician lifestyle is not easy. Being all call, working nights/weekends/holidays, risk of malpractice and insurance paperwork hassles. By shadowing a physician you can get a sense of whether this is something you’re willing to deal with.