Questions about being a Cardiothoracic Surgeon,

[XAJ]

I am Xavier, I am currently 14 years old, and a 9th grader at Harrison High school in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. I wanted to know the steps it takes to being a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, I know its: 1.) 4 years for an Undergraduate degree, 2.) 4 years for an M.D., but I am confused on what happens afterwards. Some places say that after Medical school, you have to go through : 1.) A Residency in Internal Medicine, 2.) Another Residency in General Surgery, then 3.) a residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Others say that after Med. school you have to go through a Residency in General Surgery, and then another in Cardiothoracic Surgery, but nothing about a Residency in Internal Medicine. Also, I wanted to know, how many years, generally, is a Doctor done with training for Cardiothoracic Surgery?

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[aSagacious]

1) It is best that you remove identifiers like your name and high school to preserve your anonymity since these forums are Google searchable.

2) Your latter outline is correct. You do not need an IM residency for cardiothoracic surgery. Only a general surgery residency (5-6 years) followed by a cardiac surgery fellowship (2-3 years).

 

[Medwell]

Your signature is just precious.

 

[deleted393595]

When you said Xavier, I thought of this:

 

[SitraAchra]

Worry about graduating high school with an IB diploma first. Technically you should put a after your high school graduation date as well, no?

Man...14 years old. You're so young no one can even be upset that you're putting MD after your name 😳

 

[XAJ]

1) It is best that you remove identifiers like your name and high school to preserve your anonymity since these forums are Google searchable.

2) Your latter outline is correct. You do not need an IM residency for cardiothoracic surgery. Only a general surgery residency (5-6 years) followed by a cardiac surgery fellowship (2-3 years).

1) I don't think that would be too much of a problem, since I went ahead and changed all my privacy settings to "Registered Members." Also, there are multiple Harrison High Schools in the US, so that helps.

 

[danzman]

I am Xavier A. Jones, I am currently 14 years old, and a 9th grader at Harrison High school in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. I wanted to know the steps it takes to being a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, I know its: 1.) 4 years for an Undergraduate degree, 2.) 4 years for an M.D., but I am confused on what happens afterwards. Some places say that after Medical school, you have to go through : 1.) A Residency in Internal Medicine, 2.) Another Residency in General Surgery, then 3.) a residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Others say that after Med. school you have to go through a Residency in General Surgery, and then another in Cardiothoracic Surgery, but nothing about a Residency in Internal Medicine. Also, I wanted to know, how many years, generally, is a Doctor done with training for Cardiothoracic Surgery?

Two things, first dont put MD behind your name, you come off as a huge tool. Second at 14 the only thing you should be thinking about is getting a girlfriend. Talking about medicine or being a doctor will not impress any of them, or anyone other than your parents (which is meaningless). You have no idea what you will be like in the next ten years and as such you should focus of living as a teenager now.

To answer your question it goes, high school - college - medical school - general surgery residency - CT fellowship.

All physicians must go to medical school and all must do some sort of residency (there are minor exceptions that are really not worth discussing).

 

[markelmarcel]

1) I don't think that would be too much of a problem, since I went ahead and changed all my privacy settings to "Registered Members." Also, there are multiple Harrison High Schools in the US, so that helps.

True, but you have your location as Detroit Metro.... That probably eliminates the Harrison High Schools quite a bit. But really, it's ok to share your first name, but registered member or not, people on the internet are creepy. Fo realz.

 

[mmmcdowe]

1) I don't think that would be too much of a problem, since I went ahead and changed all my privacy settings to "Registered Members."

It isn't like creepy people can't sign up. Plus, there are only two in MI by that name, and it is obvious that you are from MI. I took me about 5 seconds to identify them, and it is obvious which one you go to

You may regret someday in the future being easily identified. Seriously, delete your name from your posts and signature.

 

[deleted393595]

Two things, first dont put MD behind your name, you come off as a huge tool. Second at 14 the only thing you should be thinking about is getting a girlfriend.

True dat.

 

[misssciencenerd]

Honestly, I like the ambition! 😀
You are on the right track as it is, but don't stress too much since you are still in high school. Enjoy those years, while working on maintaining a good GPA. I think it is a good idea for high school students to volunteer at a hospital for a summer or so. This gives you a chance to really experience the environment and see if it is right for you before you dive into pre-med.

 

[SFO-IST]

GPA, GPA, GPA.... Just keep it high in high school, college, and med school and you'll be fine.

 

[deleted357625]

I am Xavier, I am currently 14 years old, and a 9th grader at Harrison High school in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. I wanted to know the steps it takes to being a Cardiothoracic Surgeon, I know its: 1.) 4 years for an Undergraduate degree, 2.) 4 years for an M.D., but I am confused on what happens afterwards. Some places say that after Medical school, you have to go through : 1.) A Residency in Internal Medicine, 2.) Another Residency in General Surgery, then 3.) a residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Others say that after Med. school you have to go through a Residency in General Surgery, and then another in Cardiothoracic Surgery, but nothing about a Residency in Internal Medicine. Also, I wanted to know, how many years, generally, is a Doctor done with training for Cardiothoracic Surgery?

Yes there are diff pathways to choose from in order to become a surgeon specializing in a sub specialty. For example plastic surgery, you can either jump straight into it if you are a stellar applicant from med school or go the general surgery route first and then hopefully apply to plastics from there. It all depends on how well you do in med school in order to match into the competitive specialty.

 

[austinblnd]

Two things, first dont put MD behind your name, you come off as a huge tool. Second at 14 the only thing you should be thinking about is getting a girlfriend. Talking about medicine or being a doctor will not impress any of them, or anyone other than your parents (which is meaningless). You have no idea what you will be like in the next ten years and as such you should focus of living as a teenager now.

To answer your question it goes, high school - college - medical school - general surgery residency - CT fellowship.

All physicians must go to medical school and all must do some sort of residency (there are minor exceptions that are really not worth discussing).

👍

 

[pancakesyrup]

Two things, first dont put MD behind your name, you come off as a huge tool.

Agreed.

Second at 14 the only thing you should be thinking about is getting a girlfriend.

I strongly disagree. He should focus on his school work and try to do as well as possible, and balance that with a social life and interesting hobbies. If he wants a girlfriend, fine, but high school isn't just a huge party.

Talking about medicine or being a doctor will not impress any of them, or anyone other than your parents (which is meaningless). You have no idea what you will be like in the next ten years and as such you should focus of living as a teenager now.

There is nothing wrong with talking about being a doctor when you're in high school. If he thinks he's interested, maybe he can do some hospital volunteering in the summer, or other activities related to health care or helping people. It will fulfill his community service requirements for HS graduation.

 

[DoctwoB]

Yes there are diff pathways to choose from in order to become a surgeon specializing in a sub specialty. For example plastic surgery, you can either jump straight into it if you are a stellar applicant from med school or go the general surgery route first and then hopefully apply to plastics from there. It all depends on how well you do in med school in order to match into the competitive specialty.

Note that this is true for Neurosurgery, Urology, ENT, Ortho surgery, plastic surgery, and is starting to be true for Vascular Surgery (with 1 or 2 programs for Cardiothoracic surgery). Neuro/Uro/ENT/Ortho are no longer available as general surgery fellowhips. Everything else (Pediatric surgery, colorectal, hepatobiliary, breast, surgonc, trauma, surg critical care, transplant, minimally invasive, etc.) requres a fellowship after general surgery.

 

[Thoughtfulness]

Lmao he comes off as a huge tool. Nah, you shouldn't worry about getting a girlfriend. You should worry about being top in your class. Girlfriends deter you from that, believe me.

 

[45408]

Just an FYI - all that business about doing internal medicine is if you want to be a cardiologist, which is a medical specialty, not a surgical specialty. Interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists (subspecialty of cards) will do cardiac angiograms and put in pacemakers, but not a whole lot more. It's the CT surgeons that do the heavy duty slicing and dicing.

It's fine if you think you want to be a physician at your age, but just throw any specialty-specific plans in the garbage. CT surgery is a really tough field, and it's been waning quite a bit in recent years. Just do well in your classes now and let the future come in its own time.

 

[thecalccobra]

If you're 100% set on becoming a doctor, try looking into the 6 year UMKC BS/MD program or any other 7 year programs. But, your best bet right now is to get all A's, join a few clubs, do some volunteering, kick ass on the SAT/ACT, and qualify for national merit.

 

[ComradeDoktor]

1)

Only a general surgery residency (5-6 years) followed by a cardiac surgery fellowship (2-3 years).

I've heard that could change in a few years. Integrated vascular surgery programs have been popping up, and CT surgery could go in the same direction. If that happens, it'll be possible to go into a 6 year cardiothoracic surgery residency right after finishing medical school.

 

[aSagacious]

I've heard that could change in a few years. Integrated vascular surgery programs have been popping up, and CT surgery could go in the same direction. If that happens, it'll be possible to go into a 6 year cardiothoracic surgery residency right after finishing medical school.

That'd be nice. Now all we'd need is a 250 on step 1 and we're all set. 😉