I’ve decided that I want to become a rheumatologist. I know there’s 4 years of pre-med and then medical. My question is, what do I major in during pre-med in order to move on to medical school? I’m going to a technical school my freshman year and then transferring to a university, and none of the services the technical schools I’m looking at seem like they would fit on the path to be a rheumatologist. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
What about Biology or the Health Sciences??
You can major in any academic field and go to med school so long as you complete all med school admission requirements.
Current requirements are:
2 semester bio w/labs
2 semesters gen chem w/labs
2 semester ochem w/labs
2 semester physics w/labs
1 semester biochem
2 semesters “college level” mathematics, including 1 semesters of statistics or biostatistics
2 semesters english or other writing intensive electives which fulfill your college’s writing requirement
1 semester intro sociology
1 semester intro psychology
Rheumatology is a fellowship level specialty. It not only requires 4 years of medical school, but also 3 years of an general internal medicine residency and another 2 years of subspecialty fellowship.
Stop fixating on rheumatology and concentrate right now on getting the grades and ECs you'll need to get a med school acceptance. Biology or Healthcare Sciences is what I was thinking. It sucks that this information is so hard to come across. 
Thanks…
Information is out there if you are willing to look for it. Not hard to find at all.
Start with AAMC–American Association of Medical Colleges. It’s a wonderful and authoritative resource!
https://students-residents.aamc.org/choosing-medical-career/medical-careers/aspiring-docs/
It really, really, really doesn’t matter what you major in college. Both of my daughters graduated from/are in med school; neither was a biology/biochem/chem major. Among their med school classmates, there were students who had majored in forestry, Spanish, Latin American studies, theology/religious studies, electrical engineering, business, music theory & performance, English lit, sociology, history, psychology, Italian, computer science, mathematics, physics, sociology, as well as the more common biology, chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience and biomedical engineering majors.
As a group, health science majors do not score as well on the MCAT as other groups; health science majors also have a lower rate of med school acceptances than other majors, even after adjusting for their lower average MCAT scores.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstable18.pdf
Does this mean you won’t be able to get into med school if you major in health sciences? No, but it may make your journey more difficult.
When you get to your 4 year college, there will be a health professions advisor who can help guide you in your quest to go to medical school. Many colleges also have a pre-med club on campus. Both are worth checking out. The information actually WAS hard to find. I’ve been on the Internet looking for answers since July. Maybe it’s easy for you since your daughters have been there and done that and you know what to look for, but when you’re 17 and really just now looking into a medical career, it’s difficult. I appreciate the information you’ve given me, I really do, but you were rude not once, but twice. Nobody forced you to comment if it bothered you that much.
I have not been rude. I have answered your questions factually and with cited sources.
A quick google search for “medical school requirements” will return several hundred hits linking you to a variety of med school admissions pages, all of which explicitly state what coursework is required for admission.
A google search for “medical school majors” returns 10 pages of hits. The top hit will take you to US News & World Reports explanation of exactly what I posted above–that major doesn’t matter so long as you complete your pre-reqs.
@shaynaleanne1 Wowmom was not rude. She is “telling you like it is,” so you don’t make decisions based on wrong assumptions.
And you should thank your lucky stars that she is taking time to help you.
As you said, you’re 17 years old. Learn from those who know this stuff.
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Maybe it's easy for you since your daughters have been there and done that and you know what to look for, but when you're 17 and really just now looking into a medical career, it's difficult. I appreciate the information you've given me, I really do, but you were rude not once, but twice. Nobody forced you to comment if it bothered you that much.
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Wowmom didn’t learn this stuff from her kids. She learned this stuff before they applied to med school.
She is trying to tell you the truth. Stop worrying about whether an undergrad major is related in any way to a desired physician specialty. It makes NO DIFFERENCE.
Even when you transfer to a univ, you’re not going to find a major that “fits the path for rheumatology”.
When you apply to med school, you apply to med school. You’re not applying to be “pre-rheumatology.” The med schools will not care a whit what specialty you want to pursue. They will ONLY be concerned with whether you have what it takes to get thru 4 years of medical school.
Med schools will only care that you took the premed prereqs, that you have a high GPA, that you have a MCAT, that you have medically-related ECs, and that you have strong LORs.
Med schools do not expect you learn anything about rheumatology or any specialty while an undergrad.
What kind of technical school are you going to and WHY are you going there?
What univs are you considering? And what are your stats?
Do you have any experience with the practice of medicine? Are your folks in medicine? Anyone close to you a physician? If not, I suggest you find a way to get some exposure to it before you embark on a long path that you may not want.
OP you are young and frustrated. If you are kind on CC, there are many very experienced posters here that are very knowledgeable and can help you find answers to your questions and save you a lot of time chasing down information w/o knowing good sources.
Have you ever tried asking a resource librarian? Your HS GC? It seems looking for information “since July” tells me you spent a lot of time on the internet w/o knowing some key things on your search for information.
Calling someone rude when they take the time to give you good information is shooting yourself in the foot.
So you are a HS senior?
Take things one step at a time. OK you want to go to medical school and go onto a specialty in Rheumatology.
So you need to know what you need to do in UG, along with MCAT exam and other experiences that make you a strong candidate for medical school.
You have to apply and be accepted to an affordable school for an UG degree. Time is of essence because the entry freshman is an opportunity for 4 year merit scholarships if your stats (GPA and testing ACT or SAT) are high enough along with other criteria set by the school.
You can have a major in a lot of UG fields, you just need to have the courses required for medical school - which are spelled out. Other posters can assist as well as many schools which have a number of students wanting to apply to medical school - some have an adviser specifically assisting these students with information, program coordination, etc. Typically a school with strong STEM will offer the classes you will want to and need to take.
There is a lot of info on CC - don’t know if as a new user you have looked around at some of the relevant threads.
Not sure if this counts as exposure, but I have a medical condition that requires me to see a rheumatologist often and the care I’ve gotten stinked… so it’s made me want to pursue it and become better at it. That might just be the patient side I’m only seeing though. 
I asked my school counselor and she wasn’t sure what to suggest. Which it’s not her fault but it felt like I was hitting just another brick wall. I definitely have been searching, I can tell you that, but I agree I don’t know key terms. I think that has been the part that has been giving me so much frustration. I’ve found good information on here that calms my anxiety about applying to college.
I was thinking more about what life is like for physicians.
I appreciate her truth but I also felt like I was approaching applying for college blindly. I’d rather ask questions and be confident when I apply than apply and not be sure of what exactly it is I’m doing.
I didn’t know there were different kinds of technical schools? I was just looking at the ones close to home. I was looking at UGA for my first 4 years, but I’ve heard of how tough it is to get in. I want to get my freshman year finished somewhere else and then transfer to the university I pick.
You have answered my questions extremely well, which again, I thank you for. Maybe I just have issues with getting treated like an idiot for asking questions in the past and I’m now quick to get defensive because of it. Thanks again though.
I am sorry to hear about illness and your poor experiences with your rheumatologist.
However–
being a patient ≠ clinical exposure
It’s admirable that you want to improve medical care for others.
But before you start down this very long path, you need to be aware that if you have debilitating or long term chronic illness that medical schools have what are called “technical standards” for admission. These are a basic physical qualifications and standards every matriculating student need to be able to meet before they are permitted to start med school.
Google “technical standards medical school” and read through the requirements at several schools.
Be aware that if fatigue is an aggravating factor in your illness (I know it is for many auto-immune mediated diseases since a number of family members have one), during your clinical training & residency, you will be working up to 30 hours straight (with little or no sleep). You will have long hours on your feet without being able to eat, drink or use the restroom. You will routinely be working 80+ hours/week. You will be taking 8-9 hour long, career-determining, standardized exams under very stressful conditions.
A cautionary true story: D1 had a classmate who had rheumatoid arthritis. The classmate did fine (not a top student, but not at the bottom either) during the first 2 years–which are largely classroom instruction. But when the classmate got to 3rd year, she was unable to successful complete 2 of her require rotations (surgery, OB/GYN–both have crazy, crazy hours) despite repeated attempts and special accommodations. The classmate was told to resign or she would be failed out. She resigned.
I think your experience as a patient with a chronic condition is a great start. Be ready to be honest about what you know and don’t know and keep coming back.
Good luck.