<p>I am a freshman in high school, and I really want to become a doctor, specifically a neurosurgeon. I always hear people saying that it's a lot of hard work and listing generic things in order to become a doctor. Does anyone know the actual process and what kind of things I should do to become a doctor? If anyone has any suggestions on places where I could volunteer, etc, that would be great. I currently volunteer at the VA Hospital and am forming my own charity club at school, so hopefully that helps my case. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Okay I want to become a doctor too and im going to be a freshman in high school…IDK exactly but this is what i understand. To become a basic doctor/ pediatrician you have to do pre-med (majoring in biology/neurology/or something else) This will take 3 or 4 years and you have to go to medical school for 4 years. If you want to become a surgeon you have to do that plus specialization which is another 4 years. 36 colleges in the US offer something (i forget what its called) that if you do the pre-med program there you are automatically accepted into their medical school which is a lot easier but harder to get in the pre-med program. So take hard classes (honors/APs) and get good grades from freshman year-senior year. Everyone messes up their freshman year and say “colleges don’t look at it too much.” Colleges look at everything. ESPECIALLY TAKE HARD SCIENCE CLASSES AND MATH CLASSES. You’re not going for an english major so if you have the opportunity to double up in science but it results an easier english class…DO IT…Be involved/work hard</p>
<p>BTW. What’s ur freshman year schedule?</p>
<p>accelerated=instead of 8 years, undergraduate + med school= less than 8 e.g. 6-7 years</p>
<p>combined=accepted into med school and undergrad at the same time. no length reduction.</p>
<p>Four years undergrad+high gpa, extracurricular and MCATs, plus admission to med school, then four years Med school, and medical school loans, and parts 1,2, and 3 ( if I recall correctly,) of some board exams, then compete for a residency spot, then 5-7 more years of residency/specialty training, which include insane hours, but enough money to stop borrowing., then some more board exams. Then you get a job. Then rinse and repeat every ten years </p>
<p>Jk. Just the board exam part. </p>
<p>From Wikipedia </p>
<p>In the U.S.</p>
<p>“In the United States, a neurosurgeon must generally complete four years of college, four years of medical school, a one year internship (PGY-1) that is usually affiliated with their residency program, and five to seven years of neurosurgery residency (PGY-2-7).[3] Most, but not all, residency programs have some component of basic science or clinical research. Some programs offer an internal Ph.D. during the residency program as well. Neurosurgeons may pursue an additional training in a fellowship, after residency or in some cases, as a senior resident. These fellowships include pediatric neurosurgery, trauma/neurocritical care, functional and stereotactic surgery, surgical neuro-oncology, radiosurgery, neurovascular surgery, Interventional neuroradiology, peripheral nerve, spine surgery and skull base surgery.[4] Neurosurgeons can also pursue fellowship training in neuropathology and rehabilitation. In the U.S., neurosurgery is considered an extremely competitive specialty composed of only 0.6% of all practicing physicians and attracts only the top students of medical schools per year (with a <60% match rate).”</p>
<p>For child psych it pwas 4+4+6 years and three sets of certifying exams after residency. </p>
<p>What do you like about neurosurgery?</p>
<p>I was under the impression the limitation in numbers was because of how much it costs to train a doctor</p>
<p>You’re on the right track by volunteering at a hospital and freshman year too! But it is a lot of hard work, getting into medical school is extremely competitive, sure there’s a shortage of doctors, but the government limits the number of medical schools on purpose so only the best get the license.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply!
World Geography
English
Spanish 2
PE
Geometry
Biology</p>
<p>Freshmen can’t really take weighted classes</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I find the brain really fascinating, and after doing biology, my interest grew even more. Someone in my Spanish class suffered a brain tumor, and as a result, he suffered a lot. This made me want to do something to help. Do you know any good places for volunteering or shadowing a neurosurgeon? Thanks for the reply!</p>