Is 18 too young?

[Dr.Sticks]

The short: Through hs-college studies I'm doing, I'll have a bachelors at 18 or 19 and therefore can go to med school at said age
The details
So I will get my associates degree basically a month after I'm done High School which I will convert to a 4 year through the transfer program, and finish college in one or two more years. The way I have it set is one year extra after hs
Question is, will medical schools consider students that young?(age 18 or 19)

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For anyone who still has questions, my county has a program where students can go to college their junior and senior year, or just senior year and knockout a lot of the required classes.
Since I plan to attend 4 semesters(2 summer, 2 fall, 2 spring) throughout senior year I'll have the credits for an associates degree, and all of it can transfer to any 4 year(already know which one) where I'll only need a year if all goes according to my plan..
So I'd be 18 by the time I have my bachelors and am ready to enter med school.

I'm about to start college this summer, fyi.. And I can't find anywhere info on if I could actually get into med school.(HS class of 2016 fyi)
I'll be a fulltime college student my senior year, (4 classes, 12 credir hours per semester) then transfer where I will only need like a year more

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[Nasrudin]

Go for it Doogie. If you're ready and you know this is what you want then there you go. I suppose if your stats are good enough to get you interviews then they'll be looking to make sure you are grown enough as a person to put you in front of patients. There were some 19/20 year olds in my class from the BS-->MD program and they did great.

I think you'll get a fair shake, with perhaps a more angled interview process. No different than 40 plus year olds being checked for vitality. Of course I'm assuming these things. All I know for sure is that my colleagues who were close to your age did great.

 

[StIGMA]

College is a time to develop and have fun. If you want to move on, move on, but make sure you won't regret it later. I had the option to finish college in 2 years, but I am so glad that I didn't. You may be more competitive for medical school / for scholarships if you stay longer and avail yourself to greater opportunities at your college. YMMV. The people I have met who have started medical school at 18-19 were not as adjusted as the traditional (21+) students, but this is not an absolute.

 

[Nasrudin]

Getting laid for no other reason than having a case of beer you will miss...my son. Being a 26 year old attending with money in your pocket...you will not.

Adjusted, schmadjusted. You get used to the vessel your walking around in. If you throw yourself into new experiences you get better at it. And then you start to get old. You place medical training into that mix and the same process takes place.

Unpopular as it is to say on this forum. One is not superior to the other. Just different.

 

[ridethecliche]

Honestly, I think you have two great options:

1) Try to go for it straight if you think you're ready. Honestly, this is fine. Most other countries have kids go from high school to medical school (med school is longer). So it's not like you're going to be paving the way. The biggest issue I see is in terms of life experience, i.e. will 70 year old patients take you seriously when you're a 3rd/4th year or intern? Who knows, but I don't think it'll be that different than if you were 24 tbh.

2) Build up your resume for a couple of years: work a research job, travel, get publications, volunteer!
-There are so many things you can do if time is on your side.


You've worked really hard, if you think you need a break now, I would take it. Nas is right, as usual, and being done with residency in your mid 20's would be awesome. You'd be a surgery attending in your late 20's if this was to work out as well. That's really awesome. Play your cards right, invest right, etc and your life looks pretty good.

Also, is the institution a community college? I'd be worried about pre-reqs not transferring over. I'd also look into the additional requirements starting next year. You'll need more classes as well as the 2015 mcat.

 

[QofQuimica]

I had an 18-year-old med school classmate. It isn't crazy common, but it happens. Just make sure medicine is what you really want before you pull the trigger. You should shadow, do clinical volunteering, etc to help make that decision. Best of luck!

 

[Mad Jack]

Seriously though, I've met a few physicians over the years that went down that path. Upside was, they got their career started faster. Downside for the only one I got to really discuss it with was that she felt like she never really fit in, anywhere. Even among her colleagues, she was considered intimidating (she was crazy smart), and she felt like she missed out on a lot of the normal social stuff growing up.

 

[Goro]

It will hinge upon how mature you appear at interviews. We see applicants like yourself maybe once every 3 years or so, and we've accepted about 50% of them. Naturally, that's a low n.
Question is, will medical schools consider students that young?(age 18 or 19)

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Remember that you still need to do all the requisite ECs.

I'm about to start college this summer, fyi.. And I can't find anywhere info on if I could actually get into med school.(HS class of 2016 fyi)
I'll be a fulltime college student my senior year, (4 classes, 12 credir hours per semester) then transfer where I will only need like a year more

 

[Aloft085]

The short: Through hs-college studies I'm doing, I'll have a bachelors at 18 or 19 and therefore can go to med school at said age
The details
So I will get my associates degree basically a month after I'm done High School which I will convert to a 4 year through the transfer program, and finish college in one or two more years. The way I have it set is one year extra after hs
Question is, will medical schools consider students that young?(age 18 or 19)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For anyone who still has questions, my county has a program where students can go to college their junior and senior year, or just senior year and knockout a lot of the required classes.
Since I plan to attend 4 semesters(2 summer, 2 fall, 2 spring) throughout senior year I'll have the credits for an associates degree, and all of it can transfer to any 4 year(already know which one) where I'll only need a year if all goes according to my plan..
So I'd be 18 by the time I have my bachelors and am ready to enter med school.

I'm about to start college this summer, fyi.. And I can't find anywhere info on if I could actually get into med school.(HS class of 2016 fyi)
I'll be a fulltime college student my senior year, (4 classes, 12 credir hours per semester) then transfer where I will only need like a year more

Yeah, you'll be alright. Be sure to plan plenty of time to study for the MCAT, around 3 months ideally. You'll need to have slightly higher GPA/MCAT than average to account for your reduced life experience. If you're not able to get into medical school on the first try, or you're just not feeling it, consider getting a masters' degree.

Also, don't feel like you have to rush it all. Getting a quality education is the most important objective, not simply getting done early. There are a lot of resources available to you as an undergrad that you simply won't have later on in life. Ultimately the degree is just a piece of paper, it's what you've learned from it that matters.

PS: Don't forget about all of the research, volunteering, shadowing, etc that you need to have for your med school application. That may hinder your ability somewhat to get done so quickly.

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, you'll be alright. Be sure to plan plenty of time to study for the MCAT, around 3 months ideally. You'll need to have slightly higher GPA/MCAT than average to account for your reduced life experience. If you're not able to get into medical school on the first try, or you're just not feeling it, consider getting a masters' degree.

Also, don't feel like you have to rush it all. Getting a quality education is the most important objective, not simply getting done early. There are a lot of resources available to you as an undergrad that you simply won't have later on in life. Ultimately the degree is just a piece of paper, it's what you've learned from it that matters.

PS: Don't forget about all of the research, volunteering, shadowing, etc that you need to have for your med school application. That may hinder your ability somewhat to get done so quickly.

Disagree. Do not get a masters degree just because.

That time is better spent working and doing research or having a job while you strengthen your application. Masters degrees are kinda meh for the most part in this field. If you do an MPH or such, then you might as well do it when you're in school.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Thanks for all the great responses:
I've done political campaigning as a volunteer.
Tat shows maturity right? xD

Anyways!!

I'm considering becoming a volunteer EMT, but I'll need to evaluate my schedule. I also am going to start shadowing next year.
I also thought of this, my goal is family medicine/general surgery
Something like that because I want to practice in the country.(I swear to god this isn't inspired from too many episodes of Dr.Quinn, and Little House, seriously it isn't lol) I actually originally wanted to be a neurosurgeon.. But I don't think I can handle not having a lot of time off.

Also to anyone concerned about the experience, honestly it's miserable.. I don't enjoy being around people my age because they don't really discuss anything worthwhile such as politics, social norms, morality, philosophical issues, religion, etc..
That's why my network of contacts, and so forth aren't in my age group haha.. Lates 20s, 30s, 40s those are mainly the people I talk to often.

Mad Jack well me personally I don't think getting wasted at some frat house, and walking to class next day with a hangover is something I want to experience, or will hate not having experienced it.
About fitting in, well the advantage of being a male is just grow a beard, and everyone thinks you're old.

Stigma well hey I disagree
I think school is to learn, and move on. I'm not in college or high school to socialize, or make friends. I am there to network, get my degree, move on.
Of course almost nobody in High School understands the idea of networking.. Their topic of choice is about stupid teenager crap, and stupid drama which I have never taken part in.

@Ride well the university I'm looking to transfer to has some research opportunity

Here is what I'm banking on though, my rapid pace through college with a good gpa, good MCAT score, and sufficient volunteer/shadow experience to get me in. Talking is the easy part, at least for me.

 

[Aloft085]

Disagree. Do not get a masters degree just because.

That time is better spent working and doing research or having a job while you strengthen your application. Masters degrees are kinda meh for the most part in this field. If you do an MPH or such, then you might as well do it when you're in school.

I wasn't speaking of an MPH, but rather something that would actually be useful, like an MBA.

 

[ridethecliche]

I wasn't speaking of an MPH, but rather something that would actually be useful, like an MBA.

How would that be useful? An MBA is useless without work experience prior to attaining that MBA. There are also plenty of dual degree MD/MBA programs that make a lot more sense than doing an MBA and then doing an MD. You're not going to get into a good MBA program without strong work experience. They don't care how well you did in college. An MBA isn't like law school/med school/etc. in that regard.

Doing an MBA makes less sense than doing an MPH or an MS in biostats or whatnot.

 

[ehwhatsupdoc]

It seems like you have a good head on your shoulders at such a young age, so I would say go for it! But maybe consider a dual Phd/MD program after finishing college so early, you would most likely get a full scholarship and stipend.

 

[Aloft085]

How would that be useful? An MBA is useless without work experience prior to attaining that MBA. There are also plenty of dual degree MD/MBA programs that make a lot more sense than doing an MBA and then doing an MD. You're not going to get into a good MBA program without strong work experience. They don't care how well you did in college. An MBA isn't like law school/med school/etc. in that regard.

Doing an MBA makes less sense than doing an MPH or an MS in biostats or whatnot.

MBA's are actually very useful, if you ever desire to run your own practice, run a hospital, or have any say in the economics of medicine. The dual MD/MBA programs typically run five years, so you don't really save yourself much time by going that route. Then of course you're taking a year off from medical school, typically right in the middle of it, which would be distracting.

As for work experience, you don't need to do your MBA at Harvard. I doubt this 18-year-old kid is getting a degree from a very prestigious undergraduate institution, considering that he did 75% of the work while enrolled in a local high school. In any case, there are plenty of other masters programs that would be helpful for a physician other than an MBA, especially if you're interested in research.

Another flaw with your logic is that getting an additional degree prior to medical school will actually help you get in, especially if you're an 18-year-old with only a single year of real college experience. That's not the case with a dual-degree program.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Aloft well I'm starting college this summer, and my goal is too zoom through it. (Already accepted, I have a student email and everything, I just need to meet with the advisor and take some tests)
Anyways I'm not really interested in business so I think such a program would cause me to slack off.

Well I just emailed the shadow opportunity coordinator at the local hospital
I start shadowing now, get some clinical experience when I join college, and then hopefully get on to volunteering in the E.R.(i could now, but it's backed up and not accepting applications)

It starts now if I'm gonna start college this summer.

 

[QofQuimica]

Definitely start doing some shadowing and volunteering. My biggest qualm about you as a potential candidate isn't your age. It's that you appear to have a limited understanding of what I do on a day to day basis.

Don't automatically write off all your new college peers. I hated HS for all the same reasons you do, and loved college because it was everything HS wasn't, both intellectually and socially. Not everyone in college is there to party. You will find others like yourself if you seek them out.

And yeah, definitely forget the MBA. Waste of time for someone like you.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Well, QofQuimica, I don't know what kind of doctor you are, but from what I understand a doctor has lots of admin work, has to make rounds every morning and check on patients, give a diagnosis and treatment plan, and follow up on patients.
At least that's what the oncologists did, they actually gave a lot of the outpatient duties to the fellows, and inpatient to residents, and themselves did a lot of research. That was at Hopkins though

 

[jl lin]

Get a LOT of clinical exposure--especially in acute and critical care areas. Doing this is so much to your advantage. You are motivated. Use your time now to find out, through firsthand experience, what it is that your REALLY are meant to do. There are no guarantees about life--how long we have to do this or that. So, regardless of age, medicine is still a HUGE chunk of money and your life. You know how they say, you can't hurry love? Well, don't hurry this; b/c you won't know if it is really for you--at least with regard to most areas of medicine--until you are around a lot of clinical.

The best to you!

 

[Dr.Sticks]

Jyeah Ji Lin, get into med school and you're pretty much living off of loans for 4years!! Then you make like around 50k as a resident, and basically can't really pay much of it back so interests keeps going on.. Yup, it's a big investment I understand.

Oh and about exposure, I have about 6 months of exposure to medicine at Hopkins. I'm not going to elaborate lol
Planni to shadow a doc in the e.r this christmas. Yeah I'm actually considering spending christmas shadowing an E.R doc. Lol
I figure it'll be extra busy, and so I get to see more.


Anyways you know what I think? I think Medicine is a calling
I've considered countless other career options, and hell I'd do great at em-.. But they all sound so boring, and I keep thinking medicine is better. Keyword there is thinking though, medicine isn't grays anatomy or E.R.. Lol it's more like Hopkins on abc, or Hopkins 24/7.

 

[QofQuimica]

The day-to-day tasks of all careers get boring the umpteenth time you do them, including medicine. That's why you need to spend some time hanging out in a medical setting and seeing if you can see yourself spending the next 40-50 years of your life doing the boring parts.

And Christmas Day tends to be pretty slow in the hospital, because most people do not want to spend the holidays in the hospital and they hold off on going. So if you want to see the ER busy, you should go the day after Christmas. This year, it's a Friday, which tends to be a busier day of the week anyway for them.

Edit: Very little in the world is anything like Hopkins. You want to see real ER? Go to Maryland Shock/Trauma. Even that is nothing like what they do out in the community.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

The day-to-day tasks of all careers get boring the umpteenth time you do them, including medicine. That's why you need to spend some time hanging out in a medical setting and seeing if you can see yourself spending the next 40-50 years of your life doing the boring parts.

And Christmas Day tends to be pretty slow in the hospital, because most people do not want to spend the holidays in the hospital and they hold off on going. So if you want to see the ER busy, you should go the day after Christmas. This year, it's a Friday, which tends to be a busier day of the week anyway for them.

Edit: Very little in the world is anything like Hopkins. You want to see real ER? Go to Maryland Shock/Trauma.

Yeah Hopkins is more of an academic Hospital. They have enormous teams when they do rounds, fellows, residents, med students, attendings, nurses..
I met a med student from England once, couldn't convince her to talk in her south london slang.

Anyways thanks for the tip about E.R times dude

I shadowed this family medicine doc back in 8th grade for a day, it was actually pretty boring I'd say. Just folowing up on patients, and doing basic things, and no procedures at all, no risk factor, no stress don't like it much.
I like the lifestyle of those guys who do high risk operations. That's why I've always said I wanted to be a neurosurgeon as a kid.

Oh oh, and I actually got to meet dr.carson. In the hallway lol.. That guy is the most humble man in the enmtire world
I was like you must be a miracle worker with the stuff you've done, he told me that it was god not him. Pretty religious dude. It sucks that he made national headlines for conservative commentator instead of neurosurgery. I'll always know him as a neurosurgeon though.

 

[Dr.Sticks]

The day-to-day tasks of all careers get boring the umpteenth time you do them, including medicine. That's why you need to spend some time hanging out in a medical setting and seeing if you can see yourself spending the next 40-50 years of your life doing the boring parts.

And Christmas Day tends to be pretty slow in the hospital, because most people do not want to spend the holidays in the hospital and they hold off on going. So if you want to see the ER busy, you should go the day after Christmas. This year, it's a Friday, which tends to be a busier day of the week anyway for them.

Edit: Very little in the world is anything like Hopkins. You want to see real ER? Go to Maryland Shock/Trauma. Even that is nothing like what they do out in the community.

Oh and I also heard people say the neurosurgery residency at hopkins is easier than the one at MD..
That must be the reason obviously.

 

[QofQuimica]

You should definitely do some more shadowing and volunteering. Yes, go in the whole weekend after Christmas if you can; you should get to see some good stuff. But spend Christmas Day with your family. Best of luck to you.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

My class had someone who turned 20 in the first semester of first year... So I'll assume it's fine...

 

[hmockingbird]

You could probably try it, I know of other young M1s.

The thing is though, there is really no reason for you to rush at this stage of your life. There is no harm in taking a little extra time to do something FUN while you have time NOW (read: not in med school or residency) like studying abroad (which you would especially have room for thanks to getting a lot of credits done already), taking fun classes that aren't available to you even at a community college, etc. It sounds cheesy but don't underestimate this time in your life for personal growth. I barely recognize the person I was at 19, sometimes, and I'm only 24. A lot changes in a short amount of time when you are young. Along those lines, you need to know that this is what you want to do. So again, no harm done taking even an extra year or two or three to do more shadowing, volunteering, research, etc. (You might actually be at a disadvantage if you were to try to apply during your senior year of college and only did 2 years of college, since if you started now you'd only have ~1.5 years to get in what normal applicants do in 3.)

If things changed for you somehow so you could go to med school but could ONLY do FP, would you do it? Because sometimes that's what you end up with and I do think it is a good idea to look at all the possibilities and with the "if there is anything else you would be happy doing, don't do medicine [now]" mentality. I'm not seriously trying to talk you out of medicine, but I feel like lots of doctors try to do that, and people trying to talk ME out of it really made me consider the negatives and still figure out that it was something I wanted to do.

Like Q, I wasn't too into HS for the same reasons you are, but then I spent my entire first semester of college having a debate (carried over day-to-day via a whiteboard) on the presidential election with about half of my floor. I wouldn't say people change in college, but I think a lot of the social pressure is gone for whatever reason, and it's easier to find people like yourself. I know people knock the "education for education's sake" thing now that college is so expensive, but ahhhh *the best thing I ever did for myself was major in something non-science that I LOVED because I knew I would not have a life outside medicine once I left undergrad* so... especially if you were to get a scholarship, you could really have the LUXURY of extra time in college to pursue other interests and yes, make friends and maybe get into some more intensive ECs like a bigger role in research if you don't have as much to do class-wise and get to do awesome things like study abroad. So I would encourage you to take advantage of that if you can.

 

[Nasrudin]

Look Doogie...I realize I should probably clarify my argument in favor of your present course. The point I made was not in favor of not getting laid period, but rather, making an investment is a higher quality, getting frequently laid experience. If your position is that getting laid sucks...then I reverse my position to you knowing what you're giving up posthaste. Because the former shows self mastery and a warrior spirit. The latter shows that don't know how good, good p@ssy really is. And also you should have a mind blowing Psychedelic experience--or perhaps a dozen. You don't miss much by not doing keg stands till you puke, although I can see arguments to the contrary. But if by forgoing partying out of Puritan principle you miss the opportunity to camp under the stars and have your consciousness dissolve into the eternal with the aid of mother earth's gifts then you should reevaluate what you're missing.

In other words, make sure you're not a militant nerd for its own sake or your personality will be distorted and weird and you really will be awkward relating to patients after doing nothing but studying from awkward high school virginity to grown but not really grown and experienced man. And perhaps worse, if you forego the adventures in getting laid...and inevitably falling in love with your first regular steady strong contact with the dark p@ssy arts. You open yourself unwittingly to the soul sucking influences of that occasional Demon in beautiful female form who could eat a successful but thoroughly inexperienced man for breakfast. And instead of losing just your pride and self-respect you could loose half your income to her support while she f@cks her personal trainer.

Ok kid...good talk. I gotta finish my morning bathroom bidness. Let's do this again.

 

[Law2Doc]

MBA's are actually very useful, if you ever desire to run your own practice, run a hospital, or have any say in the economics of medicine. The dual MD/MBA programs typically run five years, so you don't really save yourself much time by going that route. Then of course you're taking a year off from medical school, typically right in the middle of it, which would be distracting.

As for work experience, you don't need to do your MBA at Harvard. I doubt this 18-year-old kid is getting a degree from a very prestigious undergraduate institution, considering that he did 75% of the work while enrolled in a local high school. In any case, there are plenty of other masters programs that would be helpful for a physician other than an MBA, especially if you're interested in research.

Another flaw with your logic is that getting an additional degree prior to medical school will actually help you get in, especially if you're an 18-year-old with only a single year of real college experience. That's not the case with a dual-degree program.

No. An MBA is meant to enhance existing business skills and career not create them. It's nearly useless for running your own medical practice -- a self help book and a few hours with an accountant and business lawyer would be infinitely more useful. Most of the good MBA programs won't consider someone without prior business experience precisely because you'll have no existing skills to enhance. Most business schools focus on larger company executive topics-- finance, accounting, operations, marketing, economics and management. They don't deal with small business day to day stuff. And most business students have their tuition covered by their employers, precisely because this is career enhancement, not to start into a new one. So in short, a business degree is useful to the appropriately situated executive, but really not to someone coming out of college. And not for running your own medical practice. And this is why this particular dual degree doesn't make much sense. Phd would make sense if the guy wanted to do research and get a stipend. Mph might be good if the goal was to kill some time productively.

 

[Aloft085]

No. An MBA is meant to enhance existing business skills and career not create them. It's nearly useless for running your own medical practice -- a self help book and a few hours with an accountant and business lawyer would be infinitely more useful. Most of the good MBA programs won't consider someone without prior business experience precisely because you'll have no existing skills to enhance. Most business schools focus on larger company executive topics-- finance, accounting, operations, marketing, economics and management. They don't deal with small business day to day stuff. And most business students have their tuition covered by their employers, precisely because this is career enhancement, not to start into a new one. So in short, a business degree is useful to the appropriately situated executive, but really not to someone coming out of college. And not for running your own medical practice. And this is why this particular dual degree doesn't make much sense. Phd would make sense if the guy wanted to do research and get a stipend. Mph might be good if the goal was to kill some time productively.

I suppose you think that no physicians are involved in the running of large hospitals as well. Not to mention that physicians having absolutely nil understanding of economics and business results in our lobbying groups (AMA, etc) supporting terrible reform policies such as Obamacare. If you want to promote a masters in economics or something instead, then fine, but you shouldn't deride the study of business by physicians.

An MPH seems far more worthless by comparison, unless you don't want to actually practice medicine.

 

[Law2Doc]

I suppose you think that no physicians are involved in the running of large hospitals as well. Not to mention that physicians having absolutely nil understanding of economics and business results in our lobbying groups (AMA, etc) supporting terrible reform policies such as Obamacare. If you want to promote a masters in economics or something instead, then fine, but you shouldn't deride the study of business by physicians.

An MPH seems far more worthless by comparison, unless you don't want to actually practice medicine.

No, you misunderstand. There's some value to getting an MBA AFTER you are already in medicine and have some administrative duties. At that point an MBA (particularly an executive MBA) makes sense if you want to leverage your skills with an MBA. But to get one before that point is cart before the horse. Also I didn't say physicians shouldn't study business, I said don't get an MBA. There's a big difference. an undergrad business course or two, reading books etc would be a very good idea. But the MBA simply isn't designed for the purposes you are attributing to it and will not give you the basic skills you are describing. Also I didn't really say an mph was much more than a time killer, but honestly for the purposes you are describing it's actually smarter because again an MBA for someone without the underlying business skills to develop is simply wasteful. So I'm not deriding the study of business by physicians or the need to understand economics or lobbying (for which law btw is much much much more useful actually), I'm saying you misunderstand what an MBA does for you or the point or real value of that particular degree. You hear business in the degree title and apparently want it to be useful here, but it isn't the right tool for this job IMHO. Again basic business knowledge is good for future doctors. An MBA probably doesn't provide that -- it is meant to let you make the jump from middle manager to director of middle management.