Future MD Question

[RDHTyler]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a huge dilemma and I hope that you guys may be able to help me.

I'm a junior and High School and have been set on pursuing a career in Dentistry UNTIL recently.

I've been having serious thoughts about the Medical field but more importantly Anesthesiology..

Can you guys give me some insight on this job and tell me what you like and or dislike about this career choice.

Thank you so much,

Tyler

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[el_duderino]

You're a long way off from thinking about a specialty.

The best suggestion you can get is to shadow some physicians and start getting an idea for what their daily life is actually like.

 

[NickNaylor]

Get more exposure. Spend time with both DDSs and MDs to get a sense of what both fields are like and how here different.

And don't sign your posts with your real name - just a word of advice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a huge dilemma and I hope that you guys may be able to help me.

I'm a junior and High School and have been set on pursuing a career in Dentistry UNTIL recently.

I've been having serious thoughts about the Medical field but more importantly Anesthesiology..

Can you guys give me some insight on this job and tell me what you like and or dislike about this career choice.

Thank you so much,

Tyler

What country are you writing from and what makes this a huge dilemma for you?

 

[hoihaie]

you're way too young lol get some clinical exposure first.

 

[deleted480308]

as someone on their second major career before graduating high school, it should be evident that picking a specialty is a waste of time right now. Do some hospital volunteering and maybe shadow a doctor, but mainly just get good grades for now

relax, you have time to pick your path

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

You're not going to get any answers here in Pre-Allo......maybe try posting in the Anesthesiology forums.

 

[RDHTyler]

I just get freaked out because I feel as though I need to know what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. I tried posting in Anesthesiology and they told me to post here.

I think I'm just worrying and stressing out too much about my future.

It's just hard because I want to have my whole life planned out and I beat myself up over it if I don't or if I have second thoughts.

 

[justAstudent]

I just get freaked out because I feel as though I need to know what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. I tried posting in Anesthesiology and they told me to post here.

I think I'm just worrying and stressing out too much about my future.

You're still in high school. Many many people who are in college have no clue what they want to do with the rest of their life. Do some career exploring to figure out what you'd like doing for a living.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

It's good to think about your future, but realize that you need to decide whether you're going to go to Medical or Dental school first. That's what I'm currently deciding.......I don't have enough shadowing to make a decision yet.

 

[RDHTyler]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

 

[chi11]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

Then don't major in biology.

 

[deleted480308]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

for med you can literally major in anything you want....you don't have to be a bio major. For real, anything...humanities, music, history, etc

 

[ksmi117]

As you're a high school student, I'm moving this thread to the hSDN forum.

 

[TheWeeIceMan]

Calm down

 

[akram_laiq]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

I think that you should just get good grades and try to get into a good credited university and from there, hopefully you will decide what you wish to major in/study. Try to also shadow an antheisologist and see if that is something that you could see yourself doing. It is a little to early to be thinking about your career choice now but it is always better to have a plan for the future. And don't worry about undergrad now because your aren't there yet! It makes no sense worrying about something that hasn't happened yet.

 

[SweetBurger]

Why does everyone I know in high school that wants to become a doctor also want to be an Anesthesiologist.... Just my opinion, but I think people go looking for highest paying careers and anesthesia is always at the top. Just an opinion.

 

[eggman2013]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

I see your point, but if you're serious about getting into dental school or medical school you could use that biology degree to get added research experience in the event you're not accepted on your first attempt.

 

[neur0goddess]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a huge dilemma and I hope that you guys may be able to help me.

I'm a junior and High School and have been set on pursuing a career in Dentistry UNTIL recently.

I've been having serious thoughts about the Medical field but more importantly Anesthesiology..

Can you guys give me some insight on this job and tell me what you like and or dislike about this career choice.

Thank you so much,

Tyler

I'm an incoming junior in hs this year and I've been considering anesthesiology as a specialty as well- seems to be a popular choice as one poster said. I'm always thinking about my future like you, so I see nothing wrong with doing research on specialties now. However, you should be spending more time preparing to get into undergrad. Yes- you should think about your life post med school. But you're not even in college yet so don't forget to focus on the present, otherwise you'll look back and regret not spending the majority of your time living your life and enjoying high school because you were dreaming about something that you'll most probably change your mind about during your last years of hs, ugrad, or 3rd year of med school.

I feel like you're under the impression that you HAVE to major in bio if you want to be a doctor. Major in whatever interests you- as I learned today, med schools accept a wide variety of majors, and frankly, they really don't care what you major in as long as you get your pre-med reqs in. My cousin is an Otolaryngologist (ears, nose, and throat); not only did she not major in bio, but she didn't even go to a 4 year college straight from hs! She went to a community college and then transferred to a CSU and finally ended up at Stanford med of all places. Point is, those things really don't matter as long as you have a great sci GPA and regular GPA, solid MCAT score, letters of rec., and e.c.'s like volunteering, internships, sports/arts/leadership/etc.

When I was brainstorming specialties I poured through forums on here, looked up info on blogs, AMA, university websites, even TV shows Youtube-ing vids of surgery or dental procedures would probably be of help to you. Also http://www.surgerysquad.com/surgeries/ has some fun and educational surgeries- even dental stuff. Just dedicate a few hours maybe to research this stuff but overall, don't let it consume you.

 

[Blizzard18]

Almost everyone my age (starting med school this August) doesn't know which specialty they want and the majority of the ones who do, will change their mind. Therefore, high school is too early to worry about it. Because the fact is that a huge amount of people who think they want to do premed in college will also change their mind. If you make it to junior year and are doing fine in college, then I'd start allowing yourself to dream about it sometimes. Just don't lose focus on the hurdles in front of you while staring at the finish line.

 

[akram_laiq]

Almost everyone my age (starting med school this August) doesn't know which specialty they want and the majority of the ones who do, will change their mind. Therefore, high school is too early to worry about it. Because the fact is that a huge amount of people who think they want to do premed in college will also change their mind. If you make it to junior year and are doing fine in college, then I'd start allowing yourself to dream about it sometimes. Just don't lose focus on the hurdles in front of you while staring at the finish line.

That is true...

 

[EMDO2018]

Kid you're on mile 1 of a 50 mile run.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

Kid you're on mile 1 of a 50 mile run.

High school 4 years, Medical School 4 years, Residency average of 4 years: 12 years total. OP said he was an incoming Junior, so he has 2 years done. So technically he is 2 miles into a 12 mile run......unless of course you are talking about amount of work involved instead of actual time.

 

[Hillo]

Whoa, where's university?
And getting in isn't guaranteed (he could spend some more years in grad school or out of school).

Okay, my point is that time and effort doesn't matter as long as you're sure this is what you truly want to do (observe, interview, and research until you know).
And there's dental anesthesiology (two/three years after dental school).

 

[Blizzard18]

High school 4 years, Medical School 4 years, Residency average of 4 years: 12 years total. OP said he was an incoming Junior, so he has 2 years done. So technically he is 2 miles into a 12 mile run......unless of course you are talking about amount of work involved instead of actual time.

He is an incoming junior IN high school, not college. The wording was weird so it could have easily been mistaken for college. He wouldn't be posting in the high school section though if he was.

 

[Blizzard18]

Whoa, where's university?
And getting in isn't guaranteed (he could spend some more years in grad school or out of ).

True. The guy from high school that was a year older than me and everyone said was way smarter than me (which coming from my small town full of illiterate rednecks doesn't mean anything except they liked him more for who he was being small town famous). He did a lot worse than me in undergrad and I had a perfect GPA and schooled him on my MCAT and now he is on his third year cycle attempt to get in and I got in first try.

Point? Just do yo thang (haha) and hustle all 4 years and it'll pay off. Hard work is usually rewarded. When it isn't, it is just because the people complaining only think they worked hard but didn't relatively speaking.

 

[eggman2013]

best thing you can do at this point in time, is focus on your studies. Does high school matter in the big picture? Not really, but it could open up some doors for you to get into some legit universities. Does prestige of a university matter for grad school? It's debatable, but it might help some. Either way, go to a university you think will give you the most opportunity to succeed. Doing well in college will open up countless doors. You might decide healthcare isn't for you. You might have to change your major to find something else that appeals to you, but at least you'll have a GPA to back you up, assuming you did well prior to the change.

Don't worry about "specialties". Just focus on doing well. Things will work themselves out if you do well in school.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

He is an incoming junior IN high school, not college. The wording was weird so it could have easily been mistaken for college. He wouldn't be posting in the high school section though if he was.

Oh my bad, I just realized that I completely left out the 4 years of college......so really he is 2 years into a 16 year journey. One step at a time.

 

[superpom_7]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a huge dilemma and I hope that you guys may be able to help me.

I'm a junior and High School and have been set on pursuing a career in Dentistry UNTIL recently.

I've been having serious thoughts about the Medical field but more importantly Anesthesiology..

Can you guys give me some insight on this job and tell me what you like and or dislike about this career choice.

Thank you so much,

Tyler

Not everyone is going to like the same thing as you and not everyone is going to dislike the same thing as you. It's not going to help you make you a decision by wanting other people to tell you what they like/dislike about being a Dentist or Doctor.

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

Don't major in biology if you can't see yourself using the degree if you don't get accepted. Don't major in biology just for school. If you major in biology just to "improve your chances of being accepted", you're probably not going to like it and therefore you're not going to do good in undergrad.


I'm a Junior in HS myself, and I made up my mind to follow my dreams and go with being a doctor. I can't see myself doing anything else. I have a lot of interests, but only a few passions, and that's why I kept changing my mind. I really "wanted" to be a Lawyer, but when I really thought about why I wanted to be a Lawyer, I could not come up with more than one reason. You can't expect other people to help you make the decision for you, and that's why asking people for what they dislike/like about the field(s) is not going to help you. The best thing I can tell you is to try and shadow a Dentist and Doctor and see what it's like for yourself if you are that unsure.

 

[Blizzard18]

Aiming for medicine is fine, but you haven't even got to college yet. You are jumping the gun. Most students that declare pre med don't last. Just focus on doing good in whatever major you do, get the prerequisite classes done (usually the same class for med or dental or very close) and if you are still doing good by junior year make a decision on which to apply to. But it is just silly to pick a field of medicine. I wouldn't think about that too much until you are accepted, and even if that happens, keep your options open. Most med students change their mind by time they have to choose which residencies they want to apply to in their 4th year.

I like the enthusiasm, but just chill and do it when the time is right. Don't miss out on the now. You should be enjoying high school and freshman and sophomore year of college. Be serious sophomore year but still relax. Junior year: balls to the walls. End of advice.

 

[Make Or Break]

I told everyone I wanted to be a neurosurgeon in HS. Oh, how things have changed.

 

[Blizzard18]

I told everyone I wanted to be a neurosurgeon in HS. Oh, how things have changed.

Greys anatomy fan? Just asking. I see a lot of younger people (especially girls) saying they want to be a cardio thoracic surgeon or neurosurgeons because of burk and mcdreamy on greys anatomy. (I know this because I have a gf and it makes her happy that I watch it with her lol). And just seems like a terrible reason to pick a specialty. Lol

 

[bonedoc82]

Dont pick a job based on pay on lifestyle. You will hate your life later on. Pick a field (and it dosent have to be now) that you will enjoy doing, even if it means working 90+hours/week


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[Gigantron]

I, like you, wanted to be an anesthesiologist when I was a junior in high school. Fast forward a couple of years, I almost need achilles tendon surgery, and now I'm applying for podiatry school.

My point being, go shadow some doctors. You have a lot of time.

 

[bonedoc82]

I agree. Best thing to do is to shadow both types of doctors and see which one interests you the most.

Cheers,

Dr. Webb
Orthopaedic Surgery Resident
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[future_dr]

I'm in high school too. I want to be an internist. Right now just focus on getting in college. Make sure you volunteer and have above a 4.0 weighted.

 

[blackmarble]

instead of telling you you're too young to think about something 10-15 years away, i'd like to ask you what interests you about dentistry? what interests you about medicine (anesthesiology in particular)?

 

[jqueb29]

I then worry about undergrad.... What IF I major in biology for medical school and or dental school and then they don't accept me for what ever reason. I'm stuck with a useless degree and then my whole life falls apart.

Get a minor in microbiology as well. I had to take a year off after college before I got accepted into med school and worked during that year off. A biology degree is worthless for getting a decent job if you fail, but the microbiology experience can result in a decent lab career that also provides great application material if you go on to apply/reapply for med school.

As far as your specialty, I would recommend shadowing a few specialties when you can. If you can do it now, that's great, but I did nothing of the sort until after sophomore year of college so don't freak out. I'm an MS1 planning to go into anesthesia and I will tell you it is a great field. Nurse anesthetists are invading into the area but anesthesiologists will always be well paid and in high demand.

 

[Strudel19]

You have a while until you're forced to make this decision. Pre-dental and pre-medicine students essentially have the same required course sequence in undergrad. Like others have mentioned, the best thing you can do is shadow a doctor.