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[premedstudent14]

Hey, I am new here. I am about to go into High school in which I was accepted into the BioMedical Academy for Gifted and Talented Students. I know for sure that I want to get into emergency medicine. So, could you tell me why you chose to be in Emergency Medicne, and how you like it?

Thx
PreMedstudent14

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[beanbean]

Most people will say you are too young to know for sure what you want to do with the rest of your life, but honestly I have been interested in EM since middle school. I was always a kid who loved the sciences and when I was about 11 years old my Dad became a volunteer EMT. This was in '79 and EMS was just beginning. I remember reading his old Brady EMT text with fascination and I took an EMT class myself in high school. My Dad and I rode together for many years. He is now retired, but my husband also volunteers so it continues to be a family affair.

I went to college and majored in Biomedical Engineering, met my husband, and decided that I wanted to work as an engineer. My undergrad grades weren't too good due to a chronic illness I had during my undergrad years and I felt engineering would be a more compatible career to have when we had children. Many years later after a career as a clinical engineer and being a stay-at-home mom, here I am in med school. For me the desire to be a doctor never left me and I have never been happier.

Some advice for high school and beyond:

Your priorities should always be in this order:
1) your own health and happiness
2) the health and happiness of your family and loved ones
3) school and all the other stuff that you need to excel in to achieve your dreams

Work hard in school, but have some fun. Lots of fun!
Take an EMT class when you are old enough and find a place to volunteer. Teching on an ambulance is a great first exposure to patients and EM.
Please have some more fun!
Take things one step at a time... don't try to graduate high school early or rush through college. Enjoy the journey.

BTW: it occured to me while writing this post that my oldest daughter is only 6 years only than you. Now I feel really old!

 

[Mary Jane Watson]

Wow - you really are young! The way I figure it, I'm a little less than 20 years older than you! That's cool - just don't decide your life now. I ditto everything that beanbean said. Enjoy high school - don't think about residency or even med school in high school. Go to the prom! Go to homecoming! Take part in all of the traditions and have some fun. You are only young once and you don't want to look back and say, "I wish I'd have..." Man, I didn't decide on medicine until I was 25. I still live by this in med school - I've made great friends, I go out, have fun and have other interests besides medicine. You'll find that medical schools, and especially emergency medicine programs, value well-rounded individuals. The drones that sleep and eat their pathology and anatomy books are not what medicine needs (there are plenty enough already). Enjoy life, be happy and take your time. Cherish high school and college because those are once in a lifetime experiences.
Good luck to you and stay open to life's possibilities! MJ

 

[RexKD]

Don't forget to play sports.

Football and wrestling if you're a boy!

 

[OSUdoc08]

Don't forget to play sports.

Football and wrestling if you're a boy!

Wrestling? you could get herpes.


Try baseball.

 

[kungfufishing]

or wrestle someone during a baseball game

 

[RexKD]

Wrestling? you could get herpes.


Try baseball.

True, you may get ringworm, herpes, or cauli. ear, but a nice double leg and you can ground and pound one of them baseball players any day.

 

[eadysx]

Wrestling? you could get herpes.


Try baseball.

Baseball?!?? To dangerous, could lead you down a path toward steroid use. Play tennis, thats where all the real athletes are.

E-

 

[NeuroSync]

There was a poll at the last national conference for EM residents: 65% knew that they wanted to do EM prior to medical school. I don't know what the numbers are for other specialties, but that number is significant. I think the reason may be that most of the people who know they want to practice EM have had exposure to prehospital care as an EMT, or some other variation on that theme.

I agree with the other posters -- have fun and play sports! I would also suggest that you get your EMT license (in some states you have to be 16 or 18, but you can do advanced first aid, lifeguard training, and other things before that) and volunteer. You can get great training at local volunteer fire departments. The other fun thing to do is to look at the Wilderness Medical Society (www.wms.org). That organization is open to EMTs and might be a fun way to get your feet wet.

Congratulations on being accepted to your high school. It sounds like a fun place to be...

 

[Homunculus]

or wrestle someone during a baseball game

or baseball someone during a wrestling match

seriously, you should concentrate on things other than medical school. go play some sports and get laid. it'll look better on your application

--your freindly neighborhood dear abby caveman

 

[ERMudPhud]

...get laid. it'll look better on your application

I don't recall seeing that check-box on the applications when I was applying

 

[ERMudPhud]

Wrestling? you could get herpes.


Try baseball.

Baseball?! What about Commotio Cordis.

Try Chess its safer.

Seriously, the suggestion to get involved in prehospital EM was the best. Some communities have volunteer ambulance companies that will take you as young as 16 and help you get an EMT certification. The Boy Scouts run co-ed Explorer posts with a focus on EMS for high school students in some communities as well