<p>It seems to me that a very large portion of the kids now in high school want to break into the medical field. They say they want to become a doctor, surgeon, physician, anesthesian, etc. Others just say they want to do something in the medical field. Is this common at every high school? As a junior in high school, I'm worried about competition in the medical field when we enter college. Do you guys realize that there are so many kids that want to be in the medical field? Won't this create much competition and problems for us when we try to enter medical school?</p>
<p>It's a prestigous profession that allows you to make a decent living while helping people. Competition for medical school is very intense which is why premed has such a high attrition rate. I no longer have to worry about that since I'm just about done with college and preparing for med school apps.</p>
<p>It does in fact mean that admission from college into medical school is very competitive.</p>
<p>Many students enter college as premeds, and very few of those ever take the MCAT. Of those who do, approximately half of them evaluate their scores and decide not to apply to medical school. Of those that apply, more than half of those aren't admitted to any medical schools whatsoever.</p>
<p>So yes, it does end up being very difficult to get into medical school.</p>
<p>Just to echo what's been said. there's a lot of competition. However, realize that many of the kids that say they want to be doctors won't even take the MCAT. There's still a ton of competition during the application process, but many of the people you're encountering as a HS junior will find something else.</p>
<p>The prestige and money are certainly part of the equation, but much of the interest in pre-med and even pre-law, is due to the fact that many HS students don't have any idea of the huge number of careers available to them. If I wasn't in medical school, I'd probably be pursuing a career that I didn't realize existed until I was a freshman, and one that I didn't realize I would enjoy until well into the end of my junior year. I, of course, was lucky that my grades were good enough to keep being pre-med, and I didn't ever have to figure that out under duress, but a lot of kids don't get that luxury.</p>
<p>I should also mention that while the money from being a doctor is perfectly fine, it's actually not among the best-paid professions, especially not after considering debt/time costs.</p>
<p>also, did u know that there is a shortage of doctors in the world? it may seem like more people wanting to be doctors, but in the end, there is still a shortage, so more doctors are inevitably needed.</p>
<p>also i read somewhere (forgot where) that the number of seats in medical school are going to increase by like 3000 per year by 2015 or something...or i think it was 3000 more medical students will graduate per year by 2015</p>
<p>so u dont have to worry too much right now if we're still in high school..there will be more seats open to us by the time we apply for medical school :)</p>
<p>3000 per year? That's like a 20% increase in the number of seats per year. I think you mean an increase of 3000 seats by 2015 (or an average of 400 seats per year). If anything, acceptance rates have been dropping while the stats for matriculants have been rising. Each year it is getting tougher to get into med school than the previous year.</p>
<p>The AAMC's official position is, I believe, a 3% increase over ten years, or an extra 500 seats in 2015.</p>
<p>It's actually a 30% increase total by 2015, I think. <a href="http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2006/061018.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2006/061018.htm</a></p>
<p>Applicant pool is ebbing up, but I believe that's a situation that is more due to changes in the economy. It likely mirrors increases in applications to other grad/professional school programs and will likely plateau here pretty soon as the economy improves for new grads. Then when the economy is bad again, the lure of staying in school will shoot up again.</p>
<p>I know my own school will be increasing size next year, and probably the year after due to a new building for the College of Medicine opening in 2008 (of course, my last year, when I'll be either traveling or on vacation for like 5 out of the 9 months and never get to enjoy it...).</p>
<p>I dont know but I think that med-schools dont offer very much money for Financial aid right?</p>
<p>If you mean scholarships - no, there's not that much money available for scholarships, or at least no where near the amount available for undergrad. </p>
<p>If you mean loans, then yeah, there's plenty of those. Very few individuals will ever pay for medical school without a taking out a significant levels of debt. That's just the nature of the game when a year's tuition at a public medical school is $15814 for residents and $34347 for non-residents (not including the money taken out for living expenses)</p>
<p>I assume they would have some of the same reasons as myself: prestige, satisfaction in the line of work, sheer love for helping, and I would assume they pay aspect of it all isn't bad either. ;)</p>
<p>Though, I think it would be reasonable to assume that many people will initially set their sights on something like being a physician in high school...reality hasn't set in yet. Though I'm not necessarily fit to comment much on the matter as I am but a freshman myself (I tend to read up a lot on things that interest me; the subject of going into medicine being one of them), I think there are indeed obstacles down the road which will "weed out" those who don't truly desire the profession. I would also imagine that when many, who aren't necessarily prepared for the work and dedication required, hit that tough spot in the road to becoming a doctor, they will simply tuck their tails and switch career plans.</p>
<p>As well, people will probably end up simply changing their minds mid-college. I understand that it isn't necessarily uncommon for students to not be determined for some time, and do a lot of hopping around. And I wouldn't limit that idea to myself either...I think it is certainly likely that even though I've read as many possible cons, pros, and otherwise about the career of being a physician, I'm prone to simply change my mind. (Plus, my interests as a 15-year-old might not necessarily match that of myself as an upperclassmen in college) I really hope I don't, as the job of a physician is ideal for someone like me who tends to dislike repetitive/tedious, or trivial work. I want new experiences, and I want to matter. Maybe those others are like me...or maybe they just say "Oooh look, six figures!" and hop on board of the field of medicine...I'd guess, though, that it will seem less and less as if everyone is desiring a job as a doctor as time goes by.</p>
<p>But yeah, take my ideas with a grain of salt. I'm just offering a (semi, I guess) high-schooler's point of view.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that medicine is the best place to go to avoid trivial labor. We probably trump law and investment banking in that regard, but there are other fields that strike me as much less tedious than the endless paperwork, HIPAA, taking call, dealing with nurses, taking an ER shift, etc. (Private equity, most types of teaching including professorships, etc.)</p>
<p>...they haven't realised that it's better to go into business yet.
Prestige? Money? lollll...</p>
<p>Youre right about the money, but there's still a lot more prestige associated with a doctor than a businessman. I'm sure BDM will co-sign on this, but people are typically genuinely impressed when I tell them I'm in medical school.</p>
<p>Most recent Harris Poll on occupational prestige
<a href="http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=685%5B/url%5D">http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=685</a></p>
<p>I was kidding... almost every doctor I've met has told me to go into business instead. Call me a fool, but I don't care about the prestige and money.. yet.</p>
<p>Generally people tend to be more impressed by medicine than, say, leveraged buyouts, but that's only because they have no idea what private equity means. There is a certain "shock and awe" factor to medicine, but after it's explained, I've found that most people are much more interested to hear about my economics background.</p>
<p>In other words, it's the same reason HS kids are all premed: because it's the career they're most impressed by that they've heard of. For example, people commonly don't understand that being a banker is different from being a bank teller. Or that somebody in leveraged buyouts is effectively a temporary CEO. Etc.</p>
<p>At least in the circles I run in, this poll is off. Nurses, teachers and firefighters being more "prestigious" than Congressmen, lawyers, and business executives? I think there's some element of ethics/trustworthiness being conflated with prestige. Trust me, people are more "impressed" by a Congressman than a nurse.</p>
<p>yeah, that pollster should have consulted webster before making all those phone calls. </p>
<p>but, to be fair, people are impressed when I tell them I'm Pre-Med, so I do think there is plenty prestige remaining in medicine.</p>
<p>Personally, I'm kind of in a tough-it-out stage in my pre-med career. Anatomy and Physiology fascinates, medical journals etc...but chem, basic bio, and math bore the **** out of me. But I tried business for a while, and while med is a lot of work, I love the subject, always have, and having explored other career options, I always came back to med, so I guess that's my best reason for shooting for med school (fear of GPAs, MCATs, ECs, Chem, and Maths notwithstanding). Also, I've always dreamed of a life of crippling poverty followed by a life of luxury cars ;)</p>
<p>Medicine does have rather a rags-to-riches story implicit in the residency years, doesn't it? The stuff of legends, I tell you...</p>
<p>Except for some docs "supported" by their parents....not that there's anything wrong with that!</p>