<p>Im sorry if this is a bother, but I have questions that I would SOOOO greatly appreciate if someone answered!</p>
<p>Im not in college, and Im not even going yet. Im only a sophomore in HS.
But I would really like some help in this.</p>
<p>I think I want to become a surgeon. I have 3 years left, but Im interested in this, and Ive always been a planner. </p>
<p>Where should I go for pre-med school? Do Universities (Washington University or Dartmouth for ex.) have a college pre-med program as well as Med school? Or should I go to a small college for the 4 years after high school, and then aim for a prestigious U. for Med School??</p>
<p>Also, how many years it is approx.? I think there are the 4 pre-med years in college, then the med school THEN the internship? How long to I have to be an intern? Whats after that? Do interns get paid?</p>
<p>Also, what subjects are the most important? Biology, chemistry, math? </p>
<p>Is there any good site or book you can recommend that can maybe tell me what I need to know about med school, degrees, and all this stuff?</p>
<p>The rest of my questions seemed to fly out of my head right now, so I guess thats all I need. If u can answer them or help me out, please do.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that I'm not the only one that likes to plan things :)</p>
<p>Pre-med is not a major; it is a set of courses that one must take before applying to med school. </p>
<p>1 year of Freshman Chemistry along with the appropriate laboratory courses
1 year of Organic Chemistry along with laboratory courses
1 year of Biology along with laboratory courses
1 year of Physics along with laboratory courses
1 year of English
1 year of Calculus or other advanced math classes, including Statistics</p>
<p>You can complete these requirements at any university. Some medical schools may have more requirements in addition to the ones listed above (ie. some want you to take a course in behavorial science). You can take a look at the websites of the med schools you're interested in for specifics.</p>
<p>You may want to look at the pre-med advising avaliable at a university, as well as med-school acceptance rate (ie. at MIT ~75% of med school applicants are actually accepted to a med school. Other schools will have a higher or lower acceptance rate). </p>
<p>Traditionally you would take 4 years of undergraduate (get a Bachelor's degree), then go on to 4 years of medical school. From there, I'm not entirely sure about the internship (whether it's included or separate from the residency), but residency usually lasts about 2 to 6 years, depending on the specialty. After doing your residency, you can apply for a fellowship where you would train in a sub-specialty.</p>
<p>There are also some combined/accelerated medical programs that you apply to while in high school. They allow you to complete your undergraduate and medical school in 6 or 7 years. It also guarentees you a position in medical school provided you meet certain minimum requirements. Here's a list of all of the programs in the US (not sure how up-to-date it is though) <a href="http://services.aamc.org/currdir/section3/degree2.cfm?data=yes&program=bsmd%5B/url%5D">http://services.aamc.org/currdir/section3/degree2.cfm?data=yes&program=bsmd</a></p>
<p>For majors, you can major in any subject you want. It does not have to be science/medical related. There are people who have majored in philosophy, fine arts, sociology, etc. that have gone on to medical school.</p>
<p>Here are some websites that I have found helpful:
<a href="http://www.premedonline.com/HS%20advice/hsadvice.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.premedonline.com/HS%20advice/hsadvice.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.bestpremed.com/preMDreq.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.bestpremed.com/preMDreq.php</a></p>
<p>A book that I'd recommend is "White Coat" by Ellen Rothman. The books details her experience in medical school and is an interesting read (she attended Harvard Medical School, but her experiences would apply to any medical school)</p>
<p>thank u sooo much.
i really wasn't expecting such a nice detailed reply.
i'll be sure to check out the boook and websites.
thank u once again! :)</p>
<p>On the topic of surgery. Most of the time what you think you want to do med school is not what you end up doing after med school. For gen surg the residency and internship depends. You do a one year internship and usually 4 years residency. Since there are more people who want to do surgery then places sometimes people have to accept a residency which is just a internship for one year. After that year they once again apply for residencys and have to start over again. For now since your so young think about if you sure you want to do it as a job.
Its long hours, and the pay is decreasing. 80 hours is the "limit" for residents, but almost every gen surg. resident goes over that time to finish what thery started. So during your residency you can count on work ~100 hour weeks. The pay will usually be about high $30's- $40s range. So if you do that math of 100 hours weeks and say 48 weeks per year. So 4800 hours per year. And lets say 45,000 bucks per year. Then you have $9.37 per hour. By the end of your residency count on making about $15.00 per hour. Not much for what your job is. Also you have to take into account the difficulty in having a family with such long hours.</p>
<p>All the stuff said before is correct, but part of the decision of going to a large university or a small college is where you feel comfortable. I go to a small high school (about 320 students) and i've always heard that people who went to a small high school do better at a small college. Most importantly you should be comfortable and work hard to get good grades and do well on the mcat. </p>
<p>As for books, I just started reading "On Call" by Emily Transue. In this book she writes about her first year as a resident in Internal Medicine, and the first 50 pages are excelent. I also have "Becoming a Physician : A Practical and Creative Guide to Planning a Career in Medicine" which was recomended to me on order. As for other books, there was a thread with many recomendations under "Pre-Med Topics" </p>
<p>I'm going to be a junior so i'm kindof in the same boat as you are. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk more. I hope this helped.</p>
<p>If you're really serious about going to med. school, a few school have seven-year medical school programs. Basically, you go to undergraduate for three years, not four, and then start medical school. There's no application for your medical school; you just move right in and begin work. I know B.U. has a seven-year program. It's a lot of work, but I sincerely recommend that you research if a college you like has this type of deal.</p>