Career advice (prereqs, etc.)

[heartsurgeon1]

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Hi! I'm currently in the military (Navy) here in Seoul, Korea. I'm a linguist but what I really want to do is become a heart surgeon eventually. To be able to travel internationally and help people as a doctor at the same time utilizing my languages (I speak seven+ languages). What I'd like to know is opinions on what path I should take to get there. I have a plan of my own but I always like to hear advice from those who actually work in the medical field like people on this website. (I just stumbled upon this site yesterday) What I already have achieved as far as pursing my "medical career" is: I'm a AHA CPR Health care provider instructor and if I teach four more Health care provider classes then I'll be able to certify other people as a CPR instructor. (I believe that is called a TCP or something like that) So my next plans for the moment are to become CNA certified and EMT certified and at the same time study biology/mathematics so I can get my bachelors in math and then go to med school. So after all that my questions are:

1. What advice do you have considering what I've listed so far?

2. What do you feel are some things, courses, certifications, etc. that I can and should DEFINITELY get done right now. (LPN, RN, any other essentials you can think of) P.S. - I'm getting out of the Navy in 1 month and I'll be going back to mississippi (home) or hawaii.

 

[Luxian]

Just a few things...

There are several pre-reqs for med school. They are
1 yr physics
1 yr general chemistry
1 yr organic chemistry
1 yr biology

and you have to have some lab courses in there as well so that you actually get exposure to the researchy side. Your CPR work is something, but you really should try to get some clinical exposure as well.

A word of caution, though, being a heart surgeon is a long and hard path that takes dedication, smarts, and a hell of a lot of good luck. I know you want to do that in particular, but if you're going to med school, be prepared to be ANY kind of doctor. You won't know what fits you until your third year or so when you get to try it out. Make sure that you won't be awfully disappointed if you end up "just a doctor" instead of a world-renowned jet-setting heart surgeon. Otherwise you might be setting yourself up for a world of hurt.

 

[heartsurgeon1]

I studying a lot of the prereqs you mentioned below on my own. I'm hoping to be able to test out of a lot of prereqs via CLEP, AP, DANTES, etc. if possible. But for the classes w/ lab I think I'm going to have to actually take those classes at a univ./college somewhere unfortunately.

What do you mean "clinical exposure"? for example? Yeah, I really want to be a heart surgeon. How long do you think it will take to become one. I'm 24 yrs old now..

 

[mcclesm]

I studying a lot of the prereqs you mentioned below on my own. I'm hoping to be able to test out of a lot of prereqs via CLEP, AP, DANTES, etc. if possible. But for the classes w/ lab I think I'm going to have to actually take those classes at a univ./college somewhere unfortunately.

What do you mean "clinical exposure"? for example? Yeah, I really want to be a heart surgeon. How long do you think it will take to become one. I'm 24 yrs old now..

I'm afraid most schools won't allow you to CLEP your pre-req courses; most won't even allow on-line courses. Check individual schools' websites to be sure. You'd want the letter grade (an 'A' hopefully) to help your GPA and BCPM GPA, anyways.

By clinical exposure they mean voluntering at a hospital/clinic, working at a hospital/clinic, etc...anything that requires patient interaction, even if not specifically medical in nature. You can probably begin that now in the military. (I volunteered at the hospital in Balad, Iraq when I was deployed there recently).

It will take you a loooonnnnggg time to become a heart surgeon. After you get your bachelor's degree, it's 4 years of med school, plus 7 (?) years of residency to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. You may be in your 40s.

Good luck!