High School Sophmore with Big Dreams??!

[Foreveryoung14]

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Okayy first il say i want to go into Orthopedics eventually, but right now i just completed my sophmore year in high school. I took my first Ap class(world history) im in all Pre-ap classes, and took HST 1( intro class about the body etc.)
Next year im taking two AP English and AP US History, along with HST 2 where we go to the hospital and observe.
Im a A student with a high B in math, though i think thats pretty good with the fact that i play basketball..24/7.
Anyways, i was just wondering if anyone out there has any tips for the undergrad process of getting into colleges, as well as excelling in the rest of high school.?

 

[the duck]

well your obviously know how to study ( in highschool) since your getting great grades, so theres not much academic advice I can give you. Just enjoy high school, your performance now matters only minimally in life, and the medical school process. Once your in college, no one will ever care about how you did in HS. So have fun!

Go to a college you will like. Don't get to hung up on prestige of the name.

one last thing, don't go telling people you want to become a certain specialty. People will think your a tool, laugh at you, and not take you seriously. Just say you wanna be a doctor.

 

[Foreveryoung14]

Okayy thanks, il remember that.
Yeah, im starting to realize that i need to go to a college where i feel comfortable and where i feel i will do the best, as long if i get the grades there i should be fine...i hope.

 

[Missdetermined]

one last thing, don't go telling people you want to become a certain specialty. People will think your a tool, laugh at you, and not take you seriously. Just say you wanna be a doctor.

Is that really true?😕

 

[Whatyousay]

Is that really true?😕

Yes. It's kind of silly to say you want to pursue a certain specialty before you've taken a class in undergrad (and before you've done any extensive shadowing/clinical work). Heck, many people don't figure out what they really want to do until halfway through medical school. Even then, they might not be matched into the specialty that they want. It's all a bit premature.

It's like someone in high school saying that they would like to be a biomedical engineer with a focus in instrumentation and optical devices. It means absolutely nothing until you're done the coursework. This isn't to say that you shouldn't aspire to be a certain specialty...just be aware how others might perceive you.

 

[HH Holmes]

one last thing, don't go telling people you want to become a certain specialty. People will think your a tool, laugh at you, and not take you seriously. Just say you wanna be a doctor.

So many people come in saying "Yeah, so I'm going to become a pediatric neurosurgeon who specializes in operable tumors of the lower spine and I'm going to travel to Zimbabwe to a small town named..." It's kind of funny.

If people ask, tell them you're interested in a field, but like duck said, no one really knows until rotations during M3 and M4.

 

[SitraAchra]

So many people come in saying "Yeah, so I'm going to become a pediatric neurosurgeon who specializes in operable tumors of the lower spine and I'm going to travel to Zimbabwe to a small town named..." It's kind of funny.

If people ask, tell them you're interested in a field, but like duck said, no one really knows until rotations during M3 and M4.

Talk is cheap, as the saying goes. You sound like a smart guy so keep doing what you're doing and stay humble.

 

[deleted393595]

yes. It's kind of silly to say you want to pursue a certain specialty before you've taken a class in undergrad (and before you've done any extensive shadowing/clinical work). Heck, many people don't figure out what they really want to do until halfway through medical school. Even then, they might not be matched into the specialty that they want. it's all a bit premature.

It's like someone in high school saying that they would like to be a biomedical engineer with a focus in instrumentation and optical devices. It means absolutely nothing until you're done the coursework. This isn't to say that you shouldn't aspire to be a certain specialty...just be aware how others might perceive you.

+1

 

[deleted357625]

Is that really true?😕

yea ppl will think your an idiot. Well it might be alright to say it to relatives or close friends if they ask, but you will never know what kind of doctor you will be because it depends on how well you do in med school.

 

[loveoforganic]

It's perfectly fine to be interested in a field. I don't really see how you could have no feelings about any fields and still have a well thought out reason for pursuing medicine. What topics interest you? Talk with patients or do procedures? Continuity of care or never see your pts again? Kids/adults? etc. etc. etc. Of course, you're not going to be able to be sure if that field is for you until you enter the fray in 3rd and 4th year, but you can have some idea of what might suit you.

But I'm just starting, so maybe I'm talking out my ass.

 

[MossPoh]

Just work hard, participate in a variety of things and become a well-rounded and interesting person. The rest will take care of itself. When college application time comes around, you will research a couple of schools that interest you, see if they have programs that are strong in a couple of areas that you are curious about and apply.

When you start undergrad, it is more of the same. One of the nice things about undergrad is that you can major in whatever you want and still apply to medical schools, as long as you take the premed coursework.

And yes, just say you're interesting in medical school or becoming a doctor. It always seems like the people that talk the most about becoming specialty X are either the first to drop the premed coursework and focus on a business degree or get to med school and come off a bit strong. We all have fields we are interested in but even at the end of my second year of medical school, I still don't have a true idea what they involve. Shadowing is not the same. Many people enter wanting surgery because it is the most fun to shadow. You get to see someone DOING stuff. Watching people think about complex problems isn't as sexy to watch.