<p>My mother brought up the topic of med school the other day, and she talked about how I had the potential to become a dermatologist due to my interest in skin care + skin health. She was joking, but I actually researched about dermatology and med school and I am suddenly bombarded with a wealth of information. I have understood so far that in order to even think of med, there are many things I have to do for pre-med. The thing is, dermatology has never really crossed my mind in terms of searching for university, and with just a few months before the 2014-2015 application cycle starts, I was wondering what I can do to research more about this. </p>
<p>I have wanted to go into finance for some time now, and I'm in the IB diploma program. I take HL Math, English, Biology, and History; SL Chem and French. I also heard that physics was needed to even be considered for a good med school? My goal was to get into Stern, but after this whole med research, I'm not quite sure about it anymore..</p>
<p>So basically, I was wondering if I had to take a physics course in HS to make sure I am competitive enough for pre-med school, and if studying in NYU's CAS or nursing department is ideal for future med school?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Dermatology deals with more than just skincare. Derm deals with all sorts of icky, oozing, smelly skin conditions (google cellulitis images, google purulent dermatitis images), skin cancer and wound care (google suppurating wound images, google third degree burn images). Dermatology is also a extremely difficult specialty to enter and only the very top 3% of med students nationally are eligible for it. </p>
<p>IOW, don’t plan your life around becoming a dermatologist. Go into medicine because you want to be a physician and would be happy to enter into any medical specialty.</p>
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<p>If you decide you are are serious about pursuing medical school, you will need a year of general physics in high school. This is because you will need 2 semesters of college level physics w/ labs as a pre-requisite for medical school. It will be much easier to do well in college physics if you have had a previous introduction to the material.</p>
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<p>Nursing is not the same thing as medicine. Nursing is not an entry path into medical school. In fact, at many schools the basic science courses nurses take do not fulfill med school admission requirements.</p>
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<p>Since you are still at the career exploration stage, you can try to do some job shadowing to see if medicine or nursing appeals to you. Also try to do some volunteering at your local hospital to see if working a hospital all day long appeals to you.</p>
<p>Once you have more data about these careers, you can make a more informed decision about your future career pathway.</p>