How do you become a doctor?

[gthirtyfive]

Hello everyone. I just finished HS (Jun 2004), and i am still undecided on what to do for college. I plan to attend Colorado-Bouldar or Illinois-Champaign for the fall of 2005, and this whole university deal seems confusing. Been looking at Engineering, and Business (MIS), and also in the medical field (dental). Engineering and the Business schools seems like you can be done in 4 or 5 years, but the medical field seems a little different. My question is, from high school to the end of your university career, what did you have to do on becoming a doctor (what major to pick, what happens after bachelors degree, apply at another school after bachelors...etc)? Sorry for sounding like a ****, but i have no clue on how getting a medical degree works. Thanks for any help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[HiddenTruth]

you can do any major you want in theory as long as you fulfill the pre-requisites for medical school (you can find those at any medical school's website, usualyl certain number of sciences and math credits). After obtaining a bach, you have to apply for medical school. most kids usually take the MCAT (medical college admission test) in their junior year of med school if they wish to matriculate into medical school the fall after their graduation from undergrad. The MCAT essentially tests basic sciences and writing/reading ability. Medical schools gauge you as an applicant based on your gpa, MCAT, extra curric/volunteer activ, +/- research depending on how compet of an applicant u wanna be. There maybe several other things that other people can elobarate on. But all in all, 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medschool, anywhere from 3-8(+) years of post graduate training depending on what specialty you want to get into. I hope that sums it up for you. And you need to take (2) BOARD exams to graduate medical school, and a third one during residency and a respected BOARD exam at the end of your residency. And if you subspecialize, some require to take those too--
I hope you still wanna be a doc. Sorry, I didn't mean to seem like a prick here, just implying that it's a LONG journey.

 

[gthirtyfive]

you can do any major you want in theory as long as you fulfill the pre-requisites for medical school (you can find those at any medical school's website, usualyl certain number of sciences and math credits). After obtaining a bach, you have to apply for medical school. most kids usually take the MCAT (medical college admission test) in their junior year of med school if they wish to matriculate into medical school the fall after their graduation from undergrad. The MCAT essentially tests basic sciences and writing/reading ability. Medical schools gauge you as an applicant based on your gpa, MCAT, extra curric/volunteer activ, +/- research depending on how compet of an applicant u wanna be. There maybe several other things that other people can elobarate on. But all in all, 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medschool, anywhere from 3-8(+) years of post graduate training depending on what specialty you want to get into. I hope that sums it up for you. And you need to take (2) BOARD exams to graduate medical school, and a third one during residency and a respected BOARD exam at the end of your residency. And if you subspecialize, some require to take those too--
I hope you still wanna be a doc. Sorry, I didn't mean to seem like a prick here, just implying that it's a LONG journey.

Thanks for the info, that clears up lots of things! You pretty much answered what I was looking for (how long it takes for bachelors...and so on) So there is no "Pre-Med" major to declare for like for a Bachelors degree? And to clear things up, the MCAT would be taken during the 4 years of undergrad or 4 years of medschool? Again, i really appreciate this! Out of curiocity, how long did it take you for the whole academic process? Right now, something in the medical field is my top chioce

 

[ZanMD]

Thanks for the info, that clears up lots of things! You pretty much answered what I was looking for (how long it takes for bachelors...and so on) So there is no "Pre-Med" major to declare for like for a Bachelors degree? And to clear things up, the MCAT would be taken during the 4 years of undergrad or 4 years of medschool? Again, i really appreciate this! Out of curiocity, how long did it take you for the whole academic process? Right now, something in the medical field is my top chioce

MCAT is taken during junior year of college, is what he meant to say. There is no actual "premed" degreee, though some colleges will let you list it as a major. The med school prereqs are in line with a science degree, like biology or chemistry(ie inorganic chemistry, biology, physics, etc). But you can get a degree in russian literature or underwater basketweaving as long as you have taken the med school prerequisites. You don't HAVE to have a science related degree to get into medical school. In fact, a lot of schools look favorably on people with other interests (ie non-science degrees).

As far as how long the process takes, if you're a traditional student going full time, you can expect not to be a full fleged doctor before you're 29. And that's assuming you're a family practice doctor, which has the shortest "residency" or training period. anything else will put you in your 30's. And that's start to finish. So to recap, 4 years for bachelors, 4 years for med school, then 3-9 years for residency training. add it up and you get the length of training. it's best not to focus on the amount of time. If medicine's what you truly want to do, time won't be an issue. Unlike other degrees, medicine isn't just a job- it's lifetime commitment and a calling

(did I sound overly magnanimous there?

 

[gthirtyfive]

Thanks everyone for clearing things up! Now i have to figure out what I want to study in the next four years

 

[Wahoowa]

At this point in my career, I am an anesthesiology resident. Before med school, I took a major in Spanish language and linguistics along with my premedical science core (general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, physics--all with labs, and English). I also took biochemistry and cell biology. I would suggest an anatomy/physiology class before starting medical school.

 

[r_salis]

Moving thread to pre-allo...

 

[me3]

gthirtyfive ,

you should consider visiting an advisor (preferably a pre-health advisor) at any university and they can tell you everything you need to know in as much detail as you want.

good luck

 

[TTSD]

You pick whatever the hell you want to do, but make sure you take all the pre-req courses for pre-med, the MCAT, do community service, research, organizations, save the world, etc.

In all, it should take 8-12 years on average from start of college to end of medical school (couple of years maybe for post-bacc, masters, or year off depending) to get that MD. Then another 4+ years of residency at $5/hour.. then fellowships or further specialization.. then pay off those student loans.

Of course, I'm not really in this for the money.. just the trophy wives.

 

[aparecida]

The medical school at my undergrad institution provides a pretty good basic rundown here and here. Our premed advising office also has a good suggested completion schedule for the premed curriculum, a timeline for the premed, and a profile of the typical competitive applicant.

 

[ifailedmcat]

Hello everyone. I just finished HS (Jun 2004), and i am still undecided on what to do for college. I plan to attend Colorado-Bouldar or Illinois-Champaign for the fall of 2005, and this whole university deal seems confusing. Been looking at Engineering, and Business (MIS), and also in the medical field (dental). Engineering and the Business schools seems like you can be done in 4 or 5 years, but the medical field seems a little different. My question is, from high school to the end of your university career, what did you have to do on becoming a doctor (what major to pick, what happens after bachelors degree, apply at another school after bachelors...etc)? Sorry for sounding like a ****, but i have no clue on how getting a medical degree works. Thanks for any help!

I read this a couple years ago and it helped me a lot.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/becoming-a-doctor.htm

 

[txguy]

Hello everyone. I just finished HS (Jun 2004), and i am still undecided on what to do for college. I plan to attend Colorado-Bouldar or Illinois-Champaign for the fall of 2005, and this whole university deal seems confusing. Been looking at Engineering, and Business (MIS), and also in the medical field (dental). Engineering and the Business schools seems like you can be done in 4 or 5 years, but the medical field seems a little different. My question is, from high school to the end of your university career, what did you have to do on becoming a doctor (what major to pick, what happens after bachelors degree, apply at another school after bachelors...etc)? Sorry for sounding like a ****, but i have no clue on how getting a medical degree works. Thanks for any help!

Here's a very good read for you!

http://people.howstuffworks.com/becoming-a-doctor.htm

Good luck in your decision--we'll all be here to answer questions along the way

-tx

 

[txguy]

I read this a couple years ago and it helped me a lot.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/becoming-a-doctor.htm

lol

beat me to it!

-tx

 

[ifailedmcat]

lol

beat me to it!

-tx

 

[gthirtyfive]

thanks everyone for all the tips/info!

 

[Medikit]

You don't become a doctor, you are BORN a doctor!

 

[Skeptrix]

You don't become a doctor, you are BORN a doctor!

i guess i wasn't one of those people, eh?


i guess for the rest of those like me, who only figured it out during high school what i wanted to do in life, it just comes to ya, innit?

 

[45408]

for future reference, use the search feature if you know you're asking a basic question - everyone in here was pretty nice, but this question has been asked 82,869,147 times in the past week alone.

 

[Barry Otter]

WTF. You should be worrying about getting laid and generally having fun in HS.

 

[Flare10605]

My Junior and Senior years of highschool have been based on math and science taken 5 years of science 5 years of math, my highschool career has been based on engineering and now i want to be a Doctor a Radiologist infact but now that I'm a senior i don't know where to apply to I have 1100 SATs which are horrible. Some Please reply and help tell me where to apply to so i can apply for college and become a doctor

 

[fever5]

So there is no "Pre-Med" major to declare for like for a Bachelors degree?

There are some schools which offer a pre-med degree. But they are rare.

Lots of engineers, music students, have all gone onto medicine.

 

[Jim Picotte]

Hey Flare, my SAT scores were under 1000, so I wouldn't worry about it. Go to a decent University that you like which is supportive. People get into medical school from just about every University out there, so find a place you like, one you feel comfortable at and just keep the GPA up. Good luck.

 

[PKP719]

This is the latest trend I see ,

easy majors = easy acceptance into med school. Why ? b/c the courseload is easy ...hence -> high gpa . Med schools love high gpa's . I mean can you really tell me that a music major, religion major , pyschology really worked just as hard as an science major ? lol

If your bio or chem major , now your competing with a competitive crowd lol. If you can bang with the nerds , go for it. If your a lazy bum , go with non science he he . Now you must be thinking , is this fair to the bio & chem majors & dept chairs ? Prolly not , but then again life isn't always fair. Each year bio & chem dept graduate rates are decreasing. No one wants to do bio or chem for the reason that your stuck in a competitive pool and if you decide not to go to med school , your screwed working a 15.50 lab assistant job .

Take your pre req's for Med School , which are a whoppping 6 science courses.
Gen Chem 1&2
Orgo Chem 1&2 w/ lab
Bio 1&2

And lastly the MCAT , this is something no one can avoid. So thats all up to you ..

P.S how do you really know you want to medicine considering you just came out of high school lol ? So young and constrained ... be free buddy ! Explore everything before commitment.