BSMD Program

[juiscurious]

I’m a junior in high school and I want to become a surgeon. I live in Virginia and I want to go to Old Domain University. I want to do the BS/MD program with EVMS at ODU and I was wondering if this is a good route? I’m taking college classes and have been since the summer after my freshman year. If this year goes as planned I’ll have 42 college credits end of my junior year and I plan on graduating hs with my associates.

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[RIBR]

The major problem with BSMD programs is you forfeit some of you summers, and you largely forfeit any option for a gap year. You're not getting that time back, and the older you get the options to "take some time for yourself" diminish.

Also, you kind of box yourself in with your career choice, which sounds trivial when you are in HS but its not trivial when you are a junior in college. Things change when you are actually exposed to a career and all of its demands and problems and nuances, and if you are on the wrong path the time to change is when you are young.

 

[jhmmd]

Try not to plan it out so far in advance. College is a time to gain life experience, meet new friends, and become more well-rounded--not just a time to be holed up in the library.

I completely encourage you to shadow surgeons and other types of doctors so that you can see if this is something for you. But I would discourage you from making some kind of multi-year plan that boxes you in.