grade 11 student needing good advice

[iwannaplaylock]

Hi. I currently live in Vancouver British Columbia Canada and I am currently in grade 10 going into grade 11 this September. I am now dead set on becoming a doctor(I am constantly thinking about it). And no I am not becoming a doctor for the money. I am pretty interested in internal medicine(for what I heard landing a residency spot won’t be to difficult and hopefully this is not an understatement) and hopefully I will earn a good fellowship like cardiology(but I won’t hold my breath) if not I will be an internalist then. Will it be difficult in obtaining an internal medicine residency spot and a fellowship?

This year my final report card was 3 a’s and the rest were b’s. I know it doesn’t sound good but I got these marks because I basically put very little effort into school this year and didn’t do a lot of my homework and when I did I just completely rushed it. I know I am capable of straight a’s or near straight a’s and I am going to start trying in school now. My writing skills/reading skills are pretty weak and was wondering what I can do to improve them. So basically I want to make one of my weaknesses into one of my strengths. Also can someone give me a list of decently hard books to read?


I have good leadership skill(heck I am currently in the Windermere Leadership Program lol), pretty athletic, and have pretty good social skills(sorry if I sound arrogant but people describe me as a very modest person).


I plan to go to UBC for my undergraduate degree and really want to stay here for medical school and residency. I predict that my GPA may be a little bit lower but for sure my extracurricular and leadership skills will be very strong. I am asking these questions now because I want to stay a step ahead of the competition and almost guarantee my admission after my Bsc.



Another question I have is about time management for undergrad. Will it be possible to go to the gym 5 days a weeks, play some intramural sports/competitive rugby, go out on Fridays/not lose my friends, volunteer, while keeping a competitive gpa? I also want 7 hours of sleep on weekdays and 10 hours of sleep on weekends if that’s possible. Also I won’t have to work during my years at university because my parents are probably going to pay for most of my education.


And finally is there anything else I should be doing to almost guarantee admission to UBC after 4 years?


Note: I know a lot of people are going to say to enjoy my youth while I still have it and my answer to that is that I am living my youth to the fullest but I just wanna stay a step ahead of the competition because I know that a lot of people who are going to apply are smarter than me.

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[psipsina]

First this is pre-med (or pre-pre med . . . we really need a new section) and needs to be moved.

Second, no one can tell you anything about your chances at residency or fellowship . . . let alone your chances at even getting into medical school because you have yet to even graduate from high school. I know that its really hard to understand that what you are doing now (grades, leadership skills etc) really tells us nothing about what you are capable of at the college or medical school level but it just doesn't. The best advice that I can give you is focus on doing whatever you are doing now as best as it can be done. Rock out in your highschool classes, rock out in college admissions . . . focus on this now and then worry about college when you get there . . . plenty of people on the pre-med board will chat with you about how to be a great pre-med. There is absolutely no purpose to wondering how hard it will be to get a fellowship in anything when you are in highschool, its like me wondering how hard it would be to get a nobel prize.

 

[sahir j]

stfu, ho

 

[smq123]

This should not be in the allopathic forum. We're not trying to be mean, but think about it - my advice for how to get through the first few years of college is 5-6 years out of date by now. Any advice I give you on how to get into med school will be 7-8 years out of date by the time you get to the point when you can actually apply. Things will be different then. Heck, I don't even feel good about offering advice to people on the pre-allopathic board NOW, seeing as I applied for med school ~ 3 years ago.

No one on this board can tell you how to "almost guarantee" admission into med school. All of us struggled hard and prayed really hard. None of us have the secret either. The ones who have "practically guaranteed" admission into med school (if such people exist - I have yet to meet someone) aren't on these boards, because they don't need advice.

I am now dead set on becoming a doctor(I am constantly thinking about it).

"Constantly thinking" about becoming a doctor isn't doing yourself any favors. Please, try to at least think about other careers when you're in college. You need to make sure this is right for you. When you finally put that white coat on, go on to your psych rotation, and have a demented Alzheimer's patient threaten to hurl a can of Ensure at your head, at least you'll know that you made the right decision to go to med school (despite the crap you have to put up with).

 

[Hexanol]

stfu, ho

That's not necessary. It's time to grow up.

Hi. I currently live in Vancouver British Columbia Canada and I am currently in grade 10 going into grade 11 this September. I am now dead set on becoming a doctor(I am constantly thinking about it). And no I am not becoming a doctor for the money. I am pretty interested in internal medicine(for what I heard landing a residency spot won’t be to difficult and hopefully this is not an understatement) and hopefully I will earn a good fellowship like cardiology(but I won’t hold my breath) if not I will be an internalist then. Will it be difficult in obtaining an internal medicine residency spot and a fellowship?

This year my final report card was 3 a’s and the rest were b’s. I know it doesn’t sound good but I got these marks because I basically put very little effort into school this year and didn’t do a lot of my homework and when I did I just completely rushed it. I know I am capable of straight a’s or near straight a’s and I am going to start trying in school now. My writing skills/reading skills are pretty weak and was wondering what I can do to improve them. So basically I want to make one of my weaknesses into one of my strengths. Also can someone give me a list of decently hard books to read?


I have good leadership skill(heck I am currently in the Windermere Leadership Program lol), pretty athletic, and have pretty good social skills(sorry if I sound arrogant but people describe me as a very modest person).


I plan to go to UBC for my undergraduate degree and really want to stay here for medical school and residency. I predict that my GPA may be a little bit lower but for sure my extracurricular and leadership skills will be very strong. I am asking these questions now because I want to stay a step ahead of the competition and almost guarantee my admission after my Bsc.



Another question I have is about time management for undergrad. Will it be possible to go to the gym 5 days a weeks, play some intramural sports/competitive rugby, go out on Fridays/not lose my friends, volunteer, while keeping a competitive gpa? I also want 7 hours of sleep on weekdays and 10 hours of sleep on weekends if that’s possible. Also I won’t have to work during my years at university because my parents are probably going to pay for most of my education.


And finally is there anything else I should be doing to almost guarantee admission to UBC after 4 years?


Note: I know a lot of people are going to say to enjoy my youth while I still have it and my answer to that is that I am living my youth to the fullest but I just wanna stay a step ahead of the competition because I know that a lot of people who are going to apply are smarter than me.

Unfortunately, I do agree with psipsina above. I think it's great that you're preparing and that you're working hard. Unfortunately, we can't give you much more advice except to "keep up the good work" and try not to fall behind. Desires/passion is great. It'll give you the motivation you need to follow through with your dreams.

However, realistically, you need more. I think everyone on these forums knows a handful of students who entered college determined to become physicians and within the first 2 years changed their majors. That's just reality. My advice to you is to keep your head on through college. It's very easy to start slipping and to fall behind very quickly.

You'll want to enjoy college and go out and have fun. I mean it's college and you want to live it up. However, remember that you have goals you set out for yourself and remember that you need to achieve them.

Furthmore, I know you said you were set at UBC, however, I remember my highschool days and wish someone mentioned this to me. With some research , you may find an accelerated program that may fit your expectations and you may really like it.

An accelerated program will let you start out at a specific undergrad and then within 2-3 years move on to a specific med school. I don't know much of the educational system up there, however, in the states, for example, if you were to go to Penn State Univ's accelerated med program, you would do 2 years at Penn State, then transfer over to Univ. of Jefferson Med school to finish your medical degree. I'm sure you'll find other programs that fits your every need if you do the research.

Best of luck to you!

 

[deleted77919]

If you want to improve your reading skills then the best thing to do is to read. I'd recomend someting a little challenging but not too hard and that you find interesting. For example if you have any interest in finance then try the Wall Street Journal or the Economist. Both are written at an appropriate level to stretch your reading skills a bit.

Don't like finance, but enjoy science? Then try something like Scientific American.

 

[gostudy]

Hi. I currently live in Vancouver British Columbia Canada and I am currently in grade 10 going into grade 11 this September. I am now dead set on becoming a doctor(I am constantly thinking about it). And no I am not becoming a doctor for the money. I am pretty interested in internal medicine(for what I heard landing a residency spot won’t be to difficult and hopefully this is not an understatement) and hopefully I will earn a good fellowship like cardiology(but I won’t hold my breath) if not I will be an internalist then...

Wait, I thought you were dead set on being a radiologist...or was it a family practioner...maybe an dentist?...orthodontist?

 

[smq123]

Wait, I thought you were dead set on being a radiologist...or was it a family practioner...maybe an dentist?...orthodontist?

This year my final report card was 3 a’s and the rest were b’s. I know it doesn’t sound good but I got these marks because I basically put very little effort into school this year and didn’t do a lot of my homework and when I did I just completely rushed it. I know I am capable of straight a’s or near straight a’s and I am going to start trying in school now. My writing skills/reading skills are pretty weak and was wondering what I can do to improve them. So basically I want to make one of my weaknesses into one of my strengths. Also can someone give me a list of decently hard books to read?

Sorry to state the obvious but - if you spent LESS time constantly thinking about which specialty you'd like to do in the distant future, and MORE time constantly thinking about the homework that is due in the near future, then maybe your grades, reading skills, and writing skills would be better.

As for books, go back and read the books that you were probably supposed to read for school, but probably didn't. Shakespeare, Austin, and Hawthorne are good to start with.

 

[71263]

Sorry to state the obvious but - if you spent LESS time constantly thinking about which specialty you'd like to do in the distant future, and MORE time constantly thinking about the homework that is due in the near future, then maybe your grades, reading skills, and writing skills would be better.

As for books, go back and read the books that you were probably supposed to read for school, but probably didn't. Shakespeare, Austin, and Hawthorne are good to start with.

Or we could state the other obvious:

 

[prettymonkey]

Or we could state the other obvious:

that troll is so ugly that it's really cute.

 

[iwannaplaylock]

stfu, ho

i don't want any trouble with you tough guy

 

[smq123]

that troll is so ugly that it's really cute.

He sort of reminds me of a fatter, older, and sloppier version of "Digger the Dermatophyte" from the Lamisil commercials. You know - the commercial where he lifts up someone's toenail.

 

[MSKalltheway]

First things first, bud. Go to the best college for you first. Not the "best ranked", but the one you fit into the best. After you do that, see if you even want to go into med school in the first place. I would say almost everyone in my class in high school that wanted to go to med school (probably 8-10) decided differently. Only two of us actually did go to medical school (I'm one of them). At least half of the pre-meds I knew in college either decided not to go or didnt go for a variety of other reasons. Psipsina gives very sound advice, and ill only be repeating most of her post anyway. But if you are dead set on going to med school even after getting through most of college, make sure you get as many A's as you can, and get the best MCAT score possible. But take pains not to think about that now, as the SAT and college admissions is far more important!

To give you more perspective, I wanted to be a physician since I was 4. When I was in high school, I only thought about getting into college, and when I was in college, I only thought about getting into medical school. Now that I'm in med school, I'm only concerned about my chosen specialty (okay maybe fellowship slightly since sometimes its hand-in-hand). The point is, its no use for you to worry about a residency now, its around 10 years out for you, and you may even decide the best place to train is halfway across the country, or that you dont even want to be a doctor anymore...you WILL change your mind about something at this point, I promise you that. So just think about college, and party too please cause you wont get much of that when its done

Oh and a 'note' about your 'note': The most important thing about medicine is not how smart you are, or how smart everyone else is. Its about how hard you work compared to how hard everyone else works.

 

[M Sinner]

Oh and a 'note' about your 'note': The most important thing about medicine is not how smart you are, or how smart everyone else is. Its about how hard you work compared to how hard everyone else works.

Thank God! There's hope for me!

 

[ratherberocking]

dude...just relax. enjoy high school. it never comes back. don't think too much in advance. it's good that you have an idea of what you want to do, but don't take it overboard. just improve your studying skills, read interesting literature (not just science), travel, hang out with the your friends, learn an instrument.

i was like you in high school. and now that i'm less than a year away from applying to med school, I've realized all the time i spent worrying about my future, i could've been touring the Warped Tour with my band. High school DOESN'T come back. enjoy it as much as possible.

 

[psipsina]

You know - the commercial where he lifts up someone's toenail.

ugg, that commercial gives me the heebyjeebies . .. lifting that toenail just grosses me out for some reason.

 

[On3H34rT]

I am not one to advertise underage drinking, but seriously dude.. relax.

.....

 

[UnderdogMD]

Oh and a 'note' about your 'note': The most important thing about medicine is not how smart you are, or how smart everyone else is. Its about how hard you work compared to how hard everyone else works.

Crap!!! I'm screwed.

 

[Keyser112]

basically this will get you into med school:

go to any undergraduate university you want to. med schools don't care where you went all they care about is your GPA and MCAT because they are crazy.

understand that going to class every day is not essential, but it does help out a TON ( i basically skipped 70% of my classes throughout university and payed for it around exam time when i had to learn everything by myself). you will know you are ready to write each exam when you have basically memorized all of your lecture notes and can do the practice exams (profs may give out) with ease. until then you are not done studying...

do volunteer work in a hospital once/ week starting in second year (or first if you are ambitious but it's not really necessary). also take part in intramurals (you said you wanted to anyway) and continue with leadership volunteering either with what you are doing now or something else.. like coaching a team or somethin'

mcat mcat mcat mcat... the biggest advice is to read things like the magazine (not the newspaper) The Economist. it will help with one section of the MCAT called verbal reasoning which is arguably the most difficult section on the test. start doing this now.

studying for the mcat... give yourself an entire summer and study for it like you would working a full time job. ~30 - 35 hours/week, taking weekends off until you can't stand to think about it ever again and go in and ace it.
take a prep course like one offered by Kaplan or The Princeton Review and do everything they have. all of the materials / study stuff available.



finally, go out and party your face off in university. every weekend go big or go home.. that was my motto and i got into med school.

good luck!

 

[Dayfed]

Hi. I currently live in Vancouver British Columbia Canada and I am currently in grade 10 going into grade 11 this September. I am now dead set on becoming a doctor(I am constantly thinking about it). And no I am not becoming a doctor for the money. I am pretty interested in internal medicine(for what I heard landing a residency spot won’t be to difficult and hopefully this is not an understatement) and hopefully I will earn a good fellowship like cardiology(but I won’t hold my breath) if not I will be an internalist then. Will it be difficult in obtaining an internal medicine residency spot and a fellowship?

This year my final report card was 3 a’s and the rest were b’s. I know it doesn’t sound good but I got these marks because I basically put very little effort into school this year and didn’t do a lot of my homework and when I did I just completely rushed it. I know I am capable of straight a’s or near straight a’s and I am going to start trying in school now. My writing skills/reading skills are pretty weak and was wondering what I can do to improve them. So basically I want to make one of my weaknesses into one of my strengths. Also can someone give me a list of decently hard books to read?


I have good leadership skill(heck I am currently in the Windermere Leadership Program lol), pretty athletic, and have pretty good social skills(sorry if I sound arrogant but people describe me as a very modest person).


I plan to go to UBC for my undergraduate degree and really want to stay here for medical school and residency. I predict that my GPA may be a little bit lower but for sure my extracurricular and leadership skills will be very strong. I am asking these questions now because I want to stay a step ahead of the competition and almost guarantee my admission after my Bsc.



<b>Another question I have is about time management for undergrad. Will it be possible to go to the gym 5 days a weeks, play some intramural sports/competitive rugby, go out on Fridays/not lose my friends, volunteer, while keeping a competitive gpa? I also want 7 hours of sleep on weekdays and 10 hours of sleep on weekends if that’s possible. Also I won’t have to work during my years at university because my parents are probably going to pay for most of my education. </b>


And finally is there anything else I should be doing to almost guarantee admission to UBC after 4 years?


Note: I know a lot of people are going to say to enjoy my youth while I still have it and my answer to that is that I am living my youth to the fullest but I just wanna stay a step ahead of the competition because I know that a lot of people who are going to apply are smarter than me.

okay, here is my two cents.

1.) As far as how busy you are going to be: if you are really this committed to becoming a doctor, and to how hard working you are, you are going to make sacrifices. You will not lead the perfect life you were asking for in your post.

2.) Taking all the right steps to becoming a doctor doesn't guarantee anything. There's no magical thing you can do that will guarantee you a spot at ANY med school.

3.) If you are asked the question of "Why medicine?" the answer of, "I'm consistantly thinking about it," won't cut it. I mean, I'm still thinking about that question, but I'm making the right steps to see if it is for me: clinical work, shadowing, interviews. Why do you really want to go into medicine other than that it is a respectable job that helps people? There are many jobs like that. You could be a nurse, a lawyer, a physical therapist, a dentist, a therapist, a social worker, a teacher, a manager of your local caribou coffee shop, etc. Those are all service jobs. You are helping people in every one of those jobs. How is doctor different for you than any of these other jobs.

4.) How good are you in science courses? You'll be putting a lot of time into them, and see, getting an A in college is different than in high school because an A in high school is the norm, where an A in college is far and away above what is required of you.

5.) What you do in high school means nothing. Sorry to be so blunt. Grades, special awards, groups, sports do not matter.

6.) Get a job in college. Nothing worse than seeing someone say that life is so rough when mommy and daddy are paying for everything. Be part of your education financially. Also, getting a job in healthcare or research really shows that you want to work in the medical field.



I'm sorry to be so rude at some points, but honestly, there's a lot to change in the next couple years of your life and at the age of 16/17, you're still a kid. Even at my age (19) I know that I still have a lot of things to mature in, but trusts me, the person I was 3 years ago is very different from the person I am today. I got the way I am today because of learning from mistakes and through patience, two things you need to experience before you can see who you are.

Good luck though, and as one of my 80 year old patients told me yesterday,"Live it up when you have the chance."