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Hello i'm 15 and i'm just entering high school and i'm interested in neurology and i'm wondering how i should get ready for it?
How do i get ready for Neurology?
- Thread starter deidara 000
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Small steps, work hard and get into medschool first, which means work hard during prem-med etc...
Nothing you do in highschool will feature on your residency app, so focus on the next 'step' rather than the end goal for now.
Having said that, you should decide whether you really want to go the medicine route first. If you do, enjoy highschool, you won't be as free ever again! 🙂
Good luck!
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You should relax and take things one step at a time. You'll probably change your mind (career-wise) a hundred times between now and the end of college.
Enjoy high school and work hard. Major in pre-med (if you still want to be a doctor) in college and enjoy life and work hard some more. Then you get accepted to medical school. After two years of medical school, you will rotate in neurology and be able to experience it firsthand (barring your own efforts to obtain exposure to it in the meantime).
Enjoy high school and work hard. Major in pre-med (if you still want to be a doctor) in college and enjoy life and work hard some more. Then you get accepted to medical school. After two years of medical school, you will rotate in neurology and be able to experience it firsthand (barring your own efforts to obtain exposure to it in the meantime).
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start doing some light volunteer work with either the elderly or people with disabilities. If you do end up being a neurologist, you will see a lot of these people as patients and it will make you more used to it (you would be surprised how squeamish med students get around people with chronic disabilities).
The best thing you can do is get to know yourself really well by trying a lot of different things. To get to be a practicing physician you will have to answer a boatload of questions about yourself. This will also help you when you have to make big decisions like applying to med school or not or which medical specialty to choose. If you can truly say "I know I want X Y and Z" you can make an informed decision about a career later, but if you don't know yourself you can't know what you want. You might find out that what you want doesn't line up with being a physician, and some of the most miserable people I know decided to go into medicine despite the fact that as a career it does not align with what they want out of life.
The best thing you can do is get to know yourself really well by trying a lot of different things. To get to be a practicing physician you will have to answer a boatload of questions about yourself. This will also help you when you have to make big decisions like applying to med school or not or which medical specialty to choose. If you can truly say "I know I want X Y and Z" you can make an informed decision about a career later, but if you don't know yourself you can't know what you want. You might find out that what you want doesn't line up with being a physician, and some of the most miserable people I know decided to go into medicine despite the fact that as a career it does not align with what they want out of life.
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FYI, there is no "premed" major in college. There are certain requirements, like biology, chemistry, physics, English, and sometimes calculus. Some schools give you credit for AP exams, so as a HS student that should be your first step. But in college, you can major in just about anything -- I doubled in biochemistry and literature, wrote my thesis in the latter department, and got into med school just fine.
Start exploring different career paths, like volunteering in a hospital, or doing some basic summer research (e.g. pipetting) if you are near a university or major research institution that offers positions for HS students. It might not lead to tangible results, but it will help you rule in/rule out certain tracks. Travel, if you can. Study abroad in college -- in medicine you meet people at times when their own lives feel unfamiliar, and studying/working abroad can help you understand some of their confusion.
As for neurology, read a few general public books (people seem to really like Oliver Sacks) and talk to neurologists to get a sense of their day-to-day lives. But keep in mind you might completely change your mind in the next decade. When I was in high school I "knew" I wanted to be a pediatrician, and though I enjoyed my peds rotation, it didn't come close to the thrill of neurology for me. I know people who went the other way.
Start exploring different career paths, like volunteering in a hospital, or doing some basic summer research (e.g. pipetting) if you are near a university or major research institution that offers positions for HS students. It might not lead to tangible results, but it will help you rule in/rule out certain tracks. Travel, if you can. Study abroad in college -- in medicine you meet people at times when their own lives feel unfamiliar, and studying/working abroad can help you understand some of their confusion.
As for neurology, read a few general public books (people seem to really like Oliver Sacks) and talk to neurologists to get a sense of their day-to-day lives. But keep in mind you might completely change your mind in the next decade. When I was in high school I "knew" I wanted to be a pediatrician, and though I enjoyed my peds rotation, it didn't come close to the thrill of neurology for me. I know people who went the other way.
Oliver Sacks.
*sigh*
I'll only say that Raleigh St. Clair was a perfect representation of Sacks in my mind.
Full disclosure: I am not a neurologist. But, I'm starting med school in a couple weeks & I have a strong interest in neurology (though I recognize this could change). Here is some candid advice based on my journey so far (some is general pre-med advice & some is neuro-specific):
High School
-excel in bio, chem, physics & english
-volunteer with something that you are genuinely interested in
College
-major in whatever you like, but try to take as many neuro-related classes as your school offers to increase your knowledge of the field (i double majored in biology & asian studies. during my 3rd & 4th year, i took several neuro-related seminar classes including the biology of sleep, mechanisms of memory, psych disorders, neuro journal club, etc). get to know the professors in the neurobio dept of your university.
-get involved with neuro-related research @ your university
-continue volunteering in something that you are genuinely interested in & allows you to interact with people (i chose the local senior center b/c i like working with older adults & i wanted to learn more about how people live with alzheimers & dementia)
-shadow a neurologist
-if your university has a medical school/hospital, attend the neurology grand round lectures to get an idea of the latest research in the field
Other
-read popular literature relating to neuro (e.g. "man who mistook his wife for a hat" - oliver sacks, "phantoms in the brain" - v.s. ramachandran). but also read a wide range of literary genres, so that you are well rounded!
-watch some of the neuro-related lectures on TED.com to gain inspiration & awe (e.g. "stroke of insight" - jill bolte taylor, "journey to the center of your mind" - v.s. ramachandran)
I hope this helps...good luck!
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A little advice on med school admissions. Med schools love having a "diverse" class. I'm not talking race, but diverse experiences and backgrounds. Biology majors going into medicine are a dime a dozen. If you look at the admission statistics (at least when I was applying) you had a much better chance of getting in if you were a History or an English major. So major in whatever you are interested in and just make sure you also complete the pre-reqs for med school while you do it. The advice to consider colleges with study abroad programs is good, again, the more you can set yourself apart from the herd the better your application.
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