Are high school students allowed to want to become doctors

[TimeForCollege]

99% of us don't even know what a doctor does, just that he/she helps humans and makes great cash.

Are we allowed to become doctors on those assumptions

I'm in high school and I want to be a doctor, but I don't know what they do. I just like to help people and make some cash.

Is that bad, should it be allowed

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[JCTWP46]

I've wanted to become a physician since around my sophomore year of high school. I don't see why that's a bad thing

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to hSDN.

 

[tantacles]

99% of us don't even know what a doctor does, just that he/she helps humans and makes great cash.

Are we allowed to become doctors on those assumptions

I'm in high school and I want to be a doctor, but I don't know what they do. I just like to help people and make some cash.

Is that bad, should it be allowed

We actually have a committee on sdn that decides whether or not you're allowed to want to go into medicine. They vote daily in the lounge.

 

[Bro Dude]

Is that bad, should it be allowed

It is, in most of the contiguous states, with the exception of New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wyoming.

 

[TimeForCollege]

Ok maybe I worded my post wrong, but you guys know what I mean....

 

[Bro Dude]

Sorry about my sarcasm. But in all seriousness, be what you want to be. Pick your college major according to your heart's desire, see/try different things, and pick the career that's right for you. If it's medicine, congratulations to you. If not, that's cool, too. Idiosyncrasy is key; hate to employ a cliche here, but "be yourself."

 

[CeeEstee0]

We actually have a committee on sdn that decides whether or not you're allowed to want to go into medicine. They vote daily in the lounge.

From what I hear, the feast on the bones of those deemed unworthy.
Just kidding Lounge regulars, please don't hurt me with your words.

To the OP: Why not? You have to pick a career at some point, and looking in to healthcare is a good place to start.

 

[I'm No Superman]

Sorry, but your post doesn't make sense to me. Should I, as a high schooler, not be able to want to be a doctor? How would you regulate that?

 

[typhoonegator]

If you are asking if it is appropriate, I would say absolutely. I'm pretty sure I would love driving a race car, but I've never been in one. When I was in fifth grade, I told everyone I could find that I wanted to be a neurosurgeon, despite the fact that I had never even met one. Turns out I hated surgery, so I became a neurocritical care physician. Did I know what my day-to-day would look like when I was 10? No, but I had a vibe.

You're allowed to like medicine from a distance, and even be excited about it as a career, before you get concrete experience in the field. When you are in college, you will have to do some volunteer work or shadowing to make sure you know what you are in for, but it's not like most people are 50/50 before they shadow a doctor and then are all-in afterwards.

 

[docB]

I think that's a really insightful question. The OP is acknowledging that they don't know a lot about the realities of the field. Most people assume they know more about it than they really do. But that's the case for most careers from the perspective of a high school student.

I say go for it. Want to be a doctor. The fact that you know what you don't know means you'll be more open to learning and more open minded about information as you get exposed to it.

I'd also say it's a good question as too many people who ask about a medical career around here get told to relax and go party.

 

[TimeForCollege]

Thanks for all the replies. DocB thanks for the encouragement

 

[MsDeterminded]

+1docB

Learn from past, Live for future.

 

[absolutdokta]

I'm in med school and all I know thus far is that one day I'm gonna help people and make lots o' money..... so come on in OP the waters fine!

 

[JHU 2010]

Hey, I'll give a little intro first since i've never posted in hSDN before.

I'm currently a grad student at Emory, i'm going to med school next year (not sure where yet, sitting on 5 acceptances currently), and I graduated from Hopkins undergrad in '10

Hopkins recently asked me to interview prospective high school students that were applying for undergrad, and so I've been doing that for a couple months. I'll tell you that as an interviewer, if a student comes in and tells me that they want to be a doctor, I'll believe them. When I was in high school, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. I've had applicants tell me that they wanted to get very specific PhDs or work for particular firms and I was impressed that they had put some thought into their future. If you have an idea of what career you want to go into, go ahead and say that, it's a good thing to think ahead. Of course if you don't know, that's fine too, but just be sure to talk about what you're interested in, what gets you excited.

Anyway, just my $0.02

 

[QuizzicalApe]

99% of us don't even know what a doctor does, just that he/she helps humans and makes great cash.

Are we allowed to become doctors on those assumptions

I'm in high school and I want to be a doctor, but I don't know what they do. I just like to help people and make some cash.

Is that bad, should it be allowed

I spent half to two thirds of high school not knowing what to do with my life. Then I was sick on the couch for a week and watched a MASH marathon, and said, "Oh, doctor. That looks neat. I bet I could do that."

I attached myself to the pre-med track when I applied to college, purely on the basis of MASH being a really good show, medicine seeming neat from my almost non-existant experience with it, and knowing that I could probably handle the academic work required.

The key was that at all points I remained open to re-evaluating my reasons for wanting to go to med school in light of new experiences.

Taking biology/physiology. Does this seem awesome? Yeah, pretty much -> Good, I'll probably find a lot of med school coursework at least theoretically interesting.

Shadowing and clinical volunteering. Does working in a clinical environment rate highly on an objective scale of radness and being super interesting? Yes -> oh good maybe I made the right choice

Taking organic chem. Did I get a C+? Totally -> who cares, it is a dumb requirement anyway.

That was my method, and I'm currently scheduling my 4th year of med school so I guess it worked for me. Generally, I'd say that you shouldn't trust anything based solely on personal anecdotes, but "always be open to re-evaluating your beliefs and plans as new information and experiences pop up and you grow as a person" is pretty universal advice.

Oh, and no matter how hard you want it, have two back-up plans for medical school. The first back-up plan is also medical school. The second back-up plan is something different that would still make you happy.

 

[rachmoninov3]

All the sarcasm aside, in high school you are supposed to dream, but you don't have to know what you want to do with your life. 'What do you want to major in?/what do you want to be when you grow up?' Are really just ways for adults to start conversations with you. Sure, there are the rare people out there who know this is what they want to do, but it's certainly not the majority.
While these boards are great for information, they are not filled with the run of the mill prepremeds/premeds/medstudents/residents/physicians.
If you are in the majority and have any doubt about medicine, I suggest trying it out first. Not shaddowing, but taking a semester to get an EMT-basic or a CNA, or other entry level position in healthcare. While other more specialty/procedure oriented physicians may disagree, if you can't find joy caring for others, it's not worth the stress/investment of becoming a physician. Having a litmus test of seeing if you can dedicate your life to serving the sick will save you lots of time, money, and frustration later in your college career. Plus, it also allows you to make decent $$, keep loans low, and even if you decide to be a teacher or an engineer, you will be in a position to do it.

My $0.02 as a family medicine resident.