Can I be a doctor?

[Orioles10]

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For my entire life, I havent known what to do for a profession. I used to figure I'd just go to law or business school. But two weeks ago I came to a revelation that I might want to become a doctor.

I'm currently a junior in a rural PA high school. I've always been an honors student and really care about my grades. But my math and science grades have never been anything special. In fact I nearly failed my H. Chem final. Other than that I'm a pretty good student.

My family has no history in the medical field and I feel like that is a disadvantage. I don't know if I should even try to position myself for medical school because I feel that I would be part of the nearly 60% that would be rejected.

Any information or statement whatsoever would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[referee3]

Hs grades don't matter. Anything is possible if you want it enough. Take the standard premed classes in college and take part in all of the other activities that you should do to make yourself a well rounded applicant (search sdn). Make sure to get early clinical experience to see if it is something you would actually like to pursue. Having family in medicine has no impact whatsoever.

 

[jqueb29]

Literally nothing academically about high school matters when it comes to getting into medical school. All that matters is what you do in college

 

[Winged Scapula]

1) HS grades are irrelevant in terms of getting into medical school

2) Having family who are health care professionals are irrelevant in getting into medical school

3) You don't know whether you'll fail unless you try

 

[Smurfette]

I was the first person in my family to graduate from college, and (fast forward a few years) now I'm a surgeon. You don't need medical people in the family to "get in".

You have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do with your life. I didn't figure it out until AFTER I graduated from college and it still worked out.

Get good grades in college, especially in math/science, as this will keep your options open. You also can shadow some physicians to see if you think you'd really like medicine or if something related (pharmacy, optometry, etc.) may be of interest.

 

[barsoum.michael]

Make connections with doctors throughout hospitals and you'll do well

 

[sonofva]

Make connections with doctors throughout hospitals and you'll do well

This is pretty weak sauce advice man.

 

[CircadianRhythm]

For my entire life, I havent known what to do for a profession. I used to figure I'd just go to law or business school. But two weeks ago I came to a revelation that I might want to become a doctor.

I'm currently a junior in a rural PA high school. I've always been an honors student and really care about my grades. But my math and science grades have never been anything special. In fact I nearly failed my H. Chem final. Other than that I'm a pretty good student.

My family has no history in the medical field and I feel like that is a disadvantage. I don't know if I should even try to position myself for medical school because I feel that I would be part of the nearly 60% that would be rejected.

Any information or statement whatsoever would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Of course you can become a physician if you work hard enough. I guarantee the classes you did poorly in did not receive your best efforts. You can turn it around in college if you're willing to put the work in.

Let's get a little abstract here. In quantum physics there's the theory of the multiverse, otherwise an infinite amount of parallel universes representing everything that is physically possible. In other words there already exist a version of yourself somewhere who is a successful physician. You can steer yourself onto this 'track' through willpower and work ethic.

I say this facetiously but there's truth to it.

 

[DD214_DOC]

My high school guidance counselor told me I shouldn't even bother pursuing medicine.

 

[Winged Scapula]

My high school guidance counselor told me I shouldn't even bother pursuing medicine.

Yep mine told me that as well (too expensive, takes too long etc),

I ignored him once I figured out he was wrong.

 

[Mad Jack]

I dropped out of high school and still ended up in medical school eventually. No one in my family is a doctor, and I was paying my high school classes with Cs and Ds because they bored the hell out of me before I left altogether.

Just make sure that once you get to college, you put forth your best effort from the beginning. Early mistakes made when transitioning to college can have a substantial effect on your GPA if you aren't careful, so work hard and get help and tutoring early and often if you're having trouble.

 

[rbnsafsadgf]

Yes. You can get out from your rural high school and go to college and life will be awesome. Many of us have done it. Work hard in high school to get yourself a good shot at college. In college, you can think about medicine.