Premed students..

[Hilaree320]

Hello all... I am going to graduate highschool next year, and Im going to be going to (I think) UAB here in Alabama. I really want to become a doctor one day. I know what it takes, and I know that I can do it. I just want to know... Exactly how hard is the premed coursework? I can tell you now that math & chemistry is not my sharpest subject (but I guess alot can change in the next few years)... And another question.. As a premed student, do you have a life at all outside of studying???? And what is your overall GPA??? And if the chance that you dont get into medschool.. what are you going to do? Thanks...

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[gower]

Which campus do you expect to go to?

Even before you begin classes you should make an appointment to speak with the premedical advisor. [I should be able to give you a name and phone number]. You need to know more than just which classes you have to take to meet medical school admission requirements.

I also suggest that you DO NOT start with math and chemistry if you are weak there. You will find that college is more difficult than high school. (Calculus is required by a relatively small number of medical schools). If you get knocked out of the box early, you will get discouraged and that may turn into a downhill spiral.

If you want to argue that if you delay taking chem and math you might not get into medical after four years, I will respond that if you get poor grades you may become delayed even longer or never reach the Promised Land. Life does not come to an end if it takes longer to earn what you want. Nor, does it end if you change your mind or fail to beome a phyisician.

 

[Hilaree320]

I plan to go to U Alabama at Birmingham... and (hopefully) it's medical school.

 

[deleted9493]

I agree, don't burn out right away....start off easy and gain some confidence in college before jumping into some of the more difficult classes. If that means not taking general chemistry your first semester...then so be it.
Premed course work is certainly harder than highschool but at the same time...I definitely do have a life outside school. I've worked ~20 hours/week with plenty of time to spare to get enough studying in...as well as a good amount of just screwing around. A large part of how well you do in college is how you respond to failure/difficulty. I don't really believe that completing a premed program requires an abnormal amount of intelligence.....maybe just a spattering of it and a persistance to press on to your goals.
If I don't get into medical school the first time, I will probably teach for awhile....then reapply. When you know it (medicine) is what you need to do with your life....you've just got to do what it takes.

 

[lalee]

First of all...if you know NOW, while still in high school, what you want to do, you are one step ahead of the game!! I agree that you should start out with some easier classes before taking the premed req's. If that means you take some intro classes, then so be it. You'll be better prepared and more likely to pull better grades! If you stay focused and develop good study habits, you'll be OK. Chem isn't what I would call "hard", just more time consuming. If you are willing to devote time to studying, preparing yourself for the next day's lecture and doing EVERY problem in the book, you'll be good to go.
You don't have to be a genius to pull an A or B in these classes, you just have to put in the effort...that's what sets a good premed applicant apart from the others!
Good luck and don't lose focus!!

 

[bigdan]

Original poster-
It's great to see that you are cognizent of the medical pre reqs and the hoops you need to jump through to in order to get to medical school. Knowing what you know now will help you make the right choices.
I'd encourage you to do whatever you want while in college. Remember, the pre reqs are just that - pre reqs. That means that those few courses are the ones that you MUST have to be looked at for med school. You can find various literature on exactly which schools require which courses. The point I'm trying to get to is this...if you aren't great at math or chemistry, you can wait to take those courses until you've gotten used to the college scheme of things, and for goodness sake, don't major in those fields of study just because someone tells you that doctors major in Chem or Bio to get into med school. It's just not true.
Maybe it will help, and maybe it won't, but I wanted to be a doctor before my first year at college, but wound up majoring in a related health field (which I'm currently working in now while I finish up my pre reqs). Now I have no loans from undergrad, and I've been able to do a few "real life" years of living while I decided that I was ready for the commitment to med school. So...do what you want, make sure you take the courses you need, and seek the help from the college's academic support systems when/if you need.
Best of luck!