8th grader serious about orthopedic surgery

About the Ads
S

StevenB

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Sorry for the super long post, but if you could help, I would GREATLY appreciate it :D

( Please read this first paragraph if you have the time )First off, let me introduce my self as I am a new member. I'm in 8th grade and aspire to become an orthopedic surgeon. I realize that this is not easy, but I am truly dedicated and ready to work hard! I am in all honors and AP courses at my school. I do realize this doesn't mean I am a genius. I am certainly not one but my work ethic is very great. I play sports and thus, this is how I came to be so interested in orthopedic surgery as I had an injury a while back.

Now, for some questions that I hope can be answered with some seriousness and helpfulness :)

Obviously, I will have to go to pre med for 4 years, and then med school, and then a residency for around 5 years. Along the way, what are some steps to ensuring a shot at becoming an orthopedic surgery? I am worried because from what I have read, that you should almost be a genius. I do make good grades, ( 22 on the ACT as a 7th grader with no prep at all ) but I do not think of myself as a "genius", however, I am smart and work very hard.

How many years of math and science must I take? Do I have to get 100% in everything? ( Not even sure they use a percent grading scale in med school..)

Is there such thing as a "general" orthopedic surgeon? Or should I become a specialist? What are the pay differences? ( Not in it for the money, just curious )

Is there such thing as being turned down to become an orthopedic surgeon? Is it possible to go through residency and then not be recognized as an licensed surgeon?

How hard is it to be accepted in to med school? And then residency?

Luckily for me, my neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon, so he should be able to help me out some. I could ask him all these questions, but looking for a variety of experiences and answers.
Members don't see this ad.
 
StevenB said:
Sorry for the super long post, but if you could help, I would GREATLY appreciate it :D

( Please read this first paragraph if you have the time )First off, let me introduce my self as I am a new member. I'm in 8th grade and aspire to become an orthopedic surgeon. I realize that this is not easy, but I am truly dedicated and ready to work hard! I am in all honors and AP courses at my school. I do realize this doesn't mean I am a genius. I am certainly not one but my work ethic is very great. I play sports and thus, this is how I came to be so interested in orthopedic surgery as I had an injury a while back.
Well, you're far ahead of me when I was in 8th grade.
Now, for some questions that I hope can be answered with some seriousness and helpfulness :)

Obviously, I will have to go to pre med for 4 years, and then med school, and then a residency for around 5 years. Along the way, what are some steps to ensuring a shot at becoming an orthopedic surgery? I am worried because from what I have read, that you should almost be a genius. I do make good grades, ( 22 on the ACT as a 7th grader with no prep at all ) but I do not think of myself as a "genius", however, I am smart and work very hard.
Not really, you don't need to be anywhere near a genius to be successful. Work hard and have a life, emphasis on having a full life and childhood.
How many years of math and science must I take? Do I have to get 100% in everything? ( Not even sure they use a percent grading scale in med school..)
Well 3-4 years in high school, and then 2 years at a minimum in college ( or about 30-40 credits). In medical school passing with high honors and being part of the AOA or the top 10% of the class is always good, but your performance in rotations and step 1 score are more important. Grading scale is variable by school, usually it's something like fail, pass, high pass, honors.
Is there such thing as a "general" orthopedic surgeon? Or should I become a specialist? What are the pay differences? ( Not in it for the money, just curious )
Umm, well everything is a specialty, but you can subspecialize after your ortho residency for a particular area, like knee or elbow, etc.
Is there such thing as being turned down to become an orthopedic surgeon? Is it possible to go through residency and then not be recognized as an licensed surgeon?
Yes, when you're applying for residencies you can be rejected. If you finish residency and pass your licensing exams then you're a ortho surgeon. However getting through residency is the key, although barely anyone is kicked out.
How hard is it to be accepted in to med school? And then residency?
Eh, variable. If you play the game right then it's not too difficult.
Luckily for me, my neighbor is an orthopedic surgeon, so he should be able to help me out some. I could ask him all these questions, but looking for a variety of experiences and answers.
Click to expand...

Honestly, you're not even 14 yet. Don't worry about it, do well in middle or high school and do fun stuff. I didn't even begin to think about medical school genuinely until I was 17 and even then I didn't get serious about being premed till I finished my sophomore year of college. You don't need to rush, you should give yourself time to grow and develop, hell tomorrow you may decide that you would prefer to do actuary mathematics or something completely different.
 
wish I was like you when I was in 8th grade. Anyways just chill and relax, your only in 8th grade and have a good time. Don't be stressing already about this stuff. Get good grades and have fun for now.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Wow, thank you for your answer! I am just one of those people with huge aspirations and always looking to succeed, yet afraid of failure. I am having a great time right now playing baseball and hanging out with my friends. I will try not to worry about it too much and trust me, your answer pretty much just saved me from worrying about having to become a genius :D Thank you!
 
StevenB said:
Wow, thank you for your answer! I am just one of those people with huge aspirations and always looking to succeed, yet afraid of failure. I am having a great time right now playing baseball and hanging out with my friends. I will try not to worry about it too much and trust me, your answer pretty much just saved me from worrying about having to become a genius :D Thank you!
Click to expand...
Chillax, think of this stuff when you a junior or senior in HS or even a sophmore, but if you keep thinking about this stuff, your anxiety will grow and things will get crazy lol, I PLAY BBALL TOOOOOO!
 
you should just take it easy, as has been said. if you really want to land ortho, work hard. you don't have to be a genius to do anything in medicine. you just have to be willing to work hard and make sacrifices in other aspects of your life. some people have to sacrifice more than others.

there is "general" orthopedic surgery, but noone that i know really calls it that. there are fellowships off of this such as spine surgery, hand, joint replacement, pediatric, or sports medicine.

salaries quoted from cejka are as follows:

ortho - 500k
spine - 688k
peds - 425k

keep in mind that cejka tends to overinflate salary estimations.

as far as license goes, you will have to pass the orthopedic surgery boards for your governing body, and either COMLEX or USMLE along the way. failing any of these repeatedly will make it difficult for you. good luck
 
Coming from a high school senior and soon to be college freshman, don't worry. Just make sure you get good grades and do some fun things, like clubs. The one thing I regret looking back is not getting more involved in things. In high school, try taking a few advanced science classes like AP Bio or AP Chem. That'll help you get ready for your undergrad classes. Or, if you would rather, try advanced classes in things you like. Colleges, to a degree, aren't as strict over what you have to take. (When you start looking, though, make sure to look at requirements). You can start worrying about medical school applications and things like that when you make it to college. Who knows? You may become interested in something completely different. Before I thought of going into medicine, I wanted to become a sportswriter. Can't think of two fields any more different.

I'm like you in wanting to get ready for the future. But, and this is something I wish I had done more, is not focusing that much on the future. You'll go nuts, believe me. Good luck in high school and beyond! :luck:
 
thanks to all. I really am still enjoying my life and living it :) i play travel baseball and hang out with my friends all the time and go to the movies with them and everything of that nature. I was just wondering about some things and i appreciate all your help! thanks much
 
Wow all I thought about in 8th grade was Halo.
 
8th grader whose parents are ortho or told him that ortho makes a ton of money.
 
While you certainly have time, there's nothing wrong with having med school aspirations at your age. The biggest thing is to continue to explore other career choices and alternative paths. There are so many other careers out there that may be significantly better fits, and just because you can't think of them doesn't mean medicine should stop you from looking. If you were to ask HS seniors what their career plans were, you'd think that the only jobs that existed in the US were doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, architects and vague "business types", when obviously that's not the case.

Even if medicine is the right field for you, keeping an open mind is still vitally important as there are lots and lots of specialties out there. And until you've actually started rotating through clinical clerkships in your 3rd year of med school, you have almost zero insight into what will ultimately make you the happiest. No pre-med - whether in 8th grade or as a college senior with acceptance in hand - really knows what rounding on hospital patients is like, how a full day of clinic feels, or what it's like when you realize how happy the OR or the ICU makes you. The idea of orthopedic surgery sounds great now and may continue to sound great well into the 3rd year of med school, but will likely change as you find out what other fields are like.

For now, dream big, work hard, and play harder.
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
Eh, by the time you get there, the nations healthcare will be drastically different than it is now and ortho will pay marginally more than primary care, and probably less per hour. So use that information (whether true or not) to enjoy life. If you close your eyes to everything else, you are going to miss a lot.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Wow, Halo was around when you were in the 8th grade? I was still playing mariocart 64 back then :D
Click to expand...

For nontrads it was asteroids and space invaders.


Anyway, no point doing much career planning while in 8th grade. Take it one step at a time. Work hard in high school to get into a good college. Then work hard in college to get into med school. No need to be "premed". Just make sure you take the prerequisite sciences along the way. At this juncture the only thing useful you can do is excel scholastically. Once you get to the stage where you are applying to med school, get more advice on SDN.
 
About 1/4 of my class plays Starcraft (the original) on the school tablets during medical jurisprudence/medical humanism classes now...maybe a touch of regression?
 
MedPR said:
8th grader whose parents are ortho or told him that ortho makes a ton of money.
Click to expand...
no actually im just interested in the medical field and orthopedic surgery can directly relate back to sports. good guess though. im not an idiot looking into becoming a surgeon just so i can make a ton of money. i want to do something i love doing and if thats being a janitor then thats what i will be. i know you were probably just joking around but i really am just interested in the relation of ortho surgery and sports.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
Eh, by the time you get there, the nations healthcare will be drastically different than it is now and ortho will pay marginally more than primary care, and probably less per hour. So use that information (whether true or not) to enjoy life. If you close your eyes to everything else, you are going to miss a lot.
Click to expand...
thanks. i believe that i didnt articulate my message very clearly. probably used a misleading thread title. i am very interested in the medical field but im not going to get into all the reasons. I just have found that i MAY want to POSSIBLY look at orthopedic surgery. Im not trying to say im dead set on becoming one, its just something i may look at
 
BigRedBeta said:
While you certainly have time, there's nothing wrong with having med school aspirations at your age. The biggest thing is to continue to explore other career choices and alternative paths. There are so many other careers out there that may be significantly better fits, and just because you can't think of them doesn't mean medicine should stop you from looking. If you were to ask HS seniors what their career plans were, you'd think that the only jobs that existed in the US were doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, architects and vague "business types", when obviously that's the case.

Even if medicine is the right field for you, keeping an open mind is still vitally important as there are lots and lots of specialties out there. And until you've actually started rotating through clinical clerkships in your 3rd year of med school, you have almost zero insight into what will ultimately make you the happiest. No pre-med - whether in 8th grade or as a college senior with acceptance in hand - really knows what rounding on hospital patients is like, how a full day of clinic feels, or what it's like when you realize how happy the OR or the ICU makes you. The idea of orthopedic surgery sounds great now and may continue to sound great well into the 3rd year of med school, but will likely change as you find out what other fields are like.

For now, dream big, work hard, and play harder.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I am not dead set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon. I am well aware of the NUMEROUS job titles out there. Every kid wants to play professional sports and be a doctor. Obviously, I may end up as an electrician or a waiter or something completely different. I am just looking at different things I may like to do. I guess you can say i am dreaming, but yet committing myself to make something of myself. I appreciate all the helpful and guiding answers im getting. I get to witness and small orthopedic surgery soon :) maybe then i can get a small look into how i might enjoy/hate doing this. Thanks
 
I would like to clarity some things..

-Yes, i am a normal kid too. I play very competitive sports. I hang out with a variety of buddies and always am around group of friends. I go the movies, go to the mall, I play CoD, I have fun. I am just looking at the medical field currently as I feel like it may be something I would like to do one day.

-Im not dead set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon

-Im not in it for the money. I have numerous reasons and money really isnt a big one.

-I learned of orthopedic surgery mostly because of a sports injury i had and my neighbor is one. I love how ortho can directly relate back to sports. If a pitchers has a problem with his arm, he sees an ortho. If a soccer player hurts his/her knee, they see an ortho. I enjoy that part of this field. I witness my first minor surgery soon. That will be an interesting opportunity and one in which i can get a small glimpse at the daily life of an ortho surgeon.
 
I'm not going to judge you because of your age(hell, I'm a senior in HS and still get judged by my age), but I'm warning you to not pigeonhole yourself in HS/college. In my high school, all I took were science courses and what I needed to take in order to graduate. I have no clue whether or not I would be interested in business, law, teaching, etc. All I cared about was med school as my final goal and didn't take time to see if I would have liked anything else. Don't get me wrong, I'm almost positive that I'll end up in the medical field, but I want to go into college and try anything that sounds remotely interesting. Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with economics or ceramics. At the end of the day, I just want to love my job. So all in all, it's completely acceptable to be interested in ortho as an 8th grader, just don't deny yourself any opportunities because you think that's the only thing you want to do.

Also, my father's an orthopedic surgeon who did a fellowship in trauma, I don't think that specialty has been mentioned yet.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Wow, Halo was around when you were in the 8th grade? I was still playing mariocart 64 back then :D
Click to expand...

Yes! Mario Kart and Goldeneye and going to arcades with fighting games :D

When I was in 8th grade I don't think I could even SPELL orthopedics :laugh:
 
Am I the only one who thinks this is the cutest thing ever? :) Well, maybe because I have a youngster that is close to your age. OP, I think it is absolutely great that you are thinking ahead. If only I had a go-to resource like SDN when I was your age I would probably have been in medical school by now. But, I would also have to agree with some of the other posters and tell you to just take it easy, make sure to enjoy your childhood (cause once it's gone, it's gone), and continue to do what is necessary to follow your dreams. Good luck with whatever your aspirations are, and I hope that later in the future you will be able to come back and give us old folks the great news that you accomplished your goal and became an orthopedic surgeon (or whatever it is you aspire to do). ;)
 
Last edited:
I, too was in the same steps, and I thought I was a bit strange at the time. In 8th grade I aspired to becoming an orthopedic surgeon(first a surgeon when I was young and then 8th grade I presented to my class on the future profession) and I still am. If anything, I have become more enamored with the profession and become more interested in the future, since I have tons of plans ie. waiting for my acceptance letters from colleges, traveling abroad, perfecting another language, going off to the peace corp, going to medical school, becoming an orthopedic surgeon and in addition help patients go through physical therapy, work with athletes, and conduct research about the human body.
Don't worry, just keep the faith and stay strong.


PS, it's absolutely hilarious when people ask you what you want to do and you respond to an orthopedic surgeon, and they're like what is it,LOLs.
 
8th grade? Just live little dude. Work hard in school, discover your interests, play sports, chase girls... finish puberty. Be a well-rounded individual and have fun! This is the easiest time of your life! Relax! Don't miss out on being a kid by looking too far ahead. Worrying about becoming a orthopod (and you sound a bit tight) is looking too far ahead. Now go outside and play.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
Eh, by the time you get there, the nations healthcare will be drastically different than it is now and ortho will pay marginally more than primary care, and probably less per hour. So use that information (whether true or not) to enjoy life. If you close your eyes to everything else, you are going to miss a lot.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: THIS
 
StevenB said:
I would like to clarity some things..

-Yes, i am a normal kid too. I play very competitive sports. I hang out with a variety of buddies and always am around group of friends. I go the movies, go to the mall, I play CoD, I have fun. I am just looking at the medical field currently as I feel like it may be something I would like to do one day.

-Im not dead set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon

-Im not in it for the money. I have numerous reasons and money really isnt a big one.

-I learned of orthopedic surgery mostly because of a sports injury i had and my neighbor is one. I love how ortho can directly relate back to sports. If a pitchers has a problem with his arm, he sees an ortho. If a soccer player hurts his/her knee, they see an ortho. I enjoy that part of this field. I witness my first minor surgery soon. That will be an interesting opportunity and one in which i can get a small glimpse at the daily life of an ortho surgeon.
Click to expand...

I can see what you are saying, but I should also clarify that if a pitcher has a drastic problem with their arm, they see an orthopod. when a soccer player has a drastic problem, they see an orthopod. minor stuff, no. and the orthopod is often a last chance thing where they outcome is "either this works (which there is a small chance for), or you never throw a pitch again." But being orthopod includes a small amount of these things, unless you become the main orthopod for a professional team, but that is like saying, "i am going to be a professional athlete." The odds are so against you, it is better to plan on it not happening.

It is good to set your sights on something, but set a goal, not a plan. When I was a sophmore I wanted to learn how to change my own oil. I told the auto teacher I wanted to take the class and he encouraged me to go to a more intense program based at another school (still get credit at my school for it). I ended up winning a automotive competition and getting a full ride to auto services school. I graduated and worked as a tech, but I eventually quit that, jumped around, and ended as a truck driver, which is what I do now (start med school in the fall though). I never thought I would be a mechanic nor a truck driver but these two things were fun, they helped me see what I really want in life, and more importantly, one gave me 120 credits at 4.0 (as an associates degree), and the other gave me a job that I can use as 10 hours of study time every day (if I wanted). Plus they showed me what real life is like.

But more importantly, I didn't know I wanted to be a doctor until after both of these jobs. If I go into med school with my eyes set on orthopedic surgery, I will convince myself ahead of time that primary care, EM, anes, whatever isn't for me, so I have mentally blocked myself off of those. If I would have remained open, I may be able to see that I love one thing more than I thought.

The point of my long story is that as a high school student (or almost), you haven't the slightest idea of the incredible opportunity that lays before you. You may think you know, but you don't, I promise. If you set a goal as an orthopod, you will push yourself to get good grades, which can lead to a good college, which can lead to a good med school, which can lead to orthopedics. but if you set a plan, close your eyes to other opportunities and miss the enjoyable things, if you ever hit an obstacle, not only is your planned completely messed up, but your life no longer has a "purpose."

Focus on grades and being a kid. Don't overwhelm yourself with responsibility or try to grow up too fast. Cultivate friendships, try everything you possibly can, and be yourself. Don't kill yourself (too much of this) and be kind to everyone. Those nerds or goth kids that everyone makes fun of in high school could end up being your best friends in college.
 
you should be thinkin about med school after your balls drop son
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

N
High school student wishing to pursue a career in surgery
Replies
6
Views
1K
noonemournsthewickayla
N
H
  • Poll
trauma surgery
Replies
7
Views
3K
TypeADissection
TypeADissection
A
Neonatal Surgery/Neonatology.
Replies
24
Views
9K
_ Aquarius _
A
damusiel
General Surgery or Psychiatry
Replies
17
Views
3K
LucidSplash
LucidSplash
M
Your experience during general surgery internship+residency, and/or trauma/critical care fellowship?
Replies
7
Views
3K
Goro
Goro
Top