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When talking with high school students, one of the most common questions I get asked is, "What should I be doing now?" With professional schools being as competitive as they are, there are a few things you can be doing right now to help you along the way. With the help of Depakote and HumidBeing, I have assembled this, the official "What should I be doing NOW?" Thread.
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The List:
◊ Focus and get the grades: The most important thing you can be doing now is preparing for college. Concentrate efforts on your academic performance. If your school offers AP classes, TAKE THEM. These classes will best prepare you for college. However, do not feel compelled to take every last one of them. You should attempt to maintain a high GPA (at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale). Take the classes that interest you most, and not the ones you think will help most later. Chances are they won't help later, anyway. Your focus should be on getting into a good college. Whether it is Ivy League, or a state school, the better your performance, the more competitive you are for admissions and scholarships.
◊ Volunteer: Volunteering is key. Yes, volunteering helps you get into colleges and get scholarships, but it also does much more than that. Volunteers are important assets to all communities, including the medical community. At this point you don't need to be volunteering at a hospital, or trekking off on foreign medical missions. What is important is setting aside your time to do something for others. Volunteer activities done while you are in college will make a big difference in the strength of your application to professional schools later. Volunteering in high school will give you a leg up, because it will help you become comfortable with that type of activity. Your high school volunteering will also benefit you in developing social skills, self-confidence, and responsibility. Besides that, volunteer service is your chance to give back to your community and know that YOU made a difference. Thats a great feeling, and the best reason of all to volunteer.
◊ Shadow: One question I promise you will be asked 20 million times as a Pre-med is, "Why medicine?" The answer is not, "to help people". The sooner you can answer this question on a personal level, the more confident you will feel about your decision. The best way to know if medicine is for you is to follow around a doctor. Ask your primary care doctor if you may shadow him or her sometime. Most physicians are more than happy to allow students who are interested in medicine to come in and shadow them. Do not be afraid to ask questions. The physician knows that the path to an MD or DO is long and hard, and would advise you to find out as much as you can. Try your hardest to shadow at least a little bit to be sure that this is what you want to do. So often people feel that medicine is just like Scrubs or House, and as you will see, it is not. Shadow. Shadow. Shadow. This is especially true if applying to BS/MD programs.
◊ Extra Curriculars: Medical schools and colleges look for well-rounded people. Your future classmates will appreciate you much more if you have a unique story to tell, as well as sharing some common ground. Find a sport, club, or hobby that you love, and get involved with it. If playing music is your thing, by all means do that. Maybe you like chess? I am told chess clubs are a real thing. I'm fairly certain every US school has a sport of some kind. So, if that is what you enjoy, then do it! Maybe you like to work to have some extra money to spend on the weekends; do that! Become confident in what you do, and develop your leadership skills. Get involved with something!
◊ READ and RESEARCH: The fact that you are on this site, and reading this thread, is a huge step in the right direction. As mentioned before, the decision to enter medicine is a big one, one that requires a lot of time, energy, and emotion. Read about the field, and make an informed decision about entering it. Ask doctors if they like their jobs; read news articles about healthcare. If you are really motivated, pop open a copy of the New England Journal of Medicine (but prepare to be bored stiff). Read around on SDN. Read the Pre-Medical forums to see what current undergrads have to say (but take it with a huge grain of salt). Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it certainly won't harm the future Pre-Med!
◊ Take Baby Steps: At this point in the game it is unlikely that any High school student can make a final decision on the rest of their life. I know 25 year old college students who still haven't done that, and it is completely normal. Many students don't enter medical school until well after they have graduated college (some with degrees in completely unrelated fields). While it is always important to be informed it is also important to keep your mind and options open. Step one is getting into a college where you feel you will succeed. Most of your attention should be devoted to that. You should explore beyond step one, but don't focus on it. There is nothing worse than being overwhelmed (and it is an overwhelming process). Take small steps and you will thank yourself later for it.
◊ Have fun: Seriously, enjoy life now and don't let it consume you.
--------------
The List:
◊ Focus and get the grades: The most important thing you can be doing now is preparing for college. Concentrate efforts on your academic performance. If your school offers AP classes, TAKE THEM. These classes will best prepare you for college. However, do not feel compelled to take every last one of them. You should attempt to maintain a high GPA (at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale). Take the classes that interest you most, and not the ones you think will help most later. Chances are they won't help later, anyway. Your focus should be on getting into a good college. Whether it is Ivy League, or a state school, the better your performance, the more competitive you are for admissions and scholarships.
◊ Volunteer: Volunteering is key. Yes, volunteering helps you get into colleges and get scholarships, but it also does much more than that. Volunteers are important assets to all communities, including the medical community. At this point you don't need to be volunteering at a hospital, or trekking off on foreign medical missions. What is important is setting aside your time to do something for others. Volunteer activities done while you are in college will make a big difference in the strength of your application to professional schools later. Volunteering in high school will give you a leg up, because it will help you become comfortable with that type of activity. Your high school volunteering will also benefit you in developing social skills, self-confidence, and responsibility. Besides that, volunteer service is your chance to give back to your community and know that YOU made a difference. Thats a great feeling, and the best reason of all to volunteer.
◊ Shadow: One question I promise you will be asked 20 million times as a Pre-med is, "Why medicine?" The answer is not, "to help people". The sooner you can answer this question on a personal level, the more confident you will feel about your decision. The best way to know if medicine is for you is to follow around a doctor. Ask your primary care doctor if you may shadow him or her sometime. Most physicians are more than happy to allow students who are interested in medicine to come in and shadow them. Do not be afraid to ask questions. The physician knows that the path to an MD or DO is long and hard, and would advise you to find out as much as you can. Try your hardest to shadow at least a little bit to be sure that this is what you want to do. So often people feel that medicine is just like Scrubs or House, and as you will see, it is not. Shadow. Shadow. Shadow. This is especially true if applying to BS/MD programs.
◊ Extra Curriculars: Medical schools and colleges look for well-rounded people. Your future classmates will appreciate you much more if you have a unique story to tell, as well as sharing some common ground. Find a sport, club, or hobby that you love, and get involved with it. If playing music is your thing, by all means do that. Maybe you like chess? I am told chess clubs are a real thing. I'm fairly certain every US school has a sport of some kind. So, if that is what you enjoy, then do it! Maybe you like to work to have some extra money to spend on the weekends; do that! Become confident in what you do, and develop your leadership skills. Get involved with something!
◊ READ and RESEARCH: The fact that you are on this site, and reading this thread, is a huge step in the right direction. As mentioned before, the decision to enter medicine is a big one, one that requires a lot of time, energy, and emotion. Read about the field, and make an informed decision about entering it. Ask doctors if they like their jobs; read news articles about healthcare. If you are really motivated, pop open a copy of the New England Journal of Medicine (but prepare to be bored stiff). Read around on SDN. Read the Pre-Medical forums to see what current undergrads have to say (but take it with a huge grain of salt). Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it certainly won't harm the future Pre-Med!
◊ Take Baby Steps: At this point in the game it is unlikely that any High school student can make a final decision on the rest of their life. I know 25 year old college students who still haven't done that, and it is completely normal. Many students don't enter medical school until well after they have graduated college (some with degrees in completely unrelated fields). While it is always important to be informed it is also important to keep your mind and options open. Step one is getting into a college where you feel you will succeed. Most of your attention should be devoted to that. You should explore beyond step one, but don't focus on it. There is nothing worse than being overwhelmed (and it is an overwhelming process). Take small steps and you will thank yourself later for it.
◊ Have fun: Seriously, enjoy life now and don't let it consume you.
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). I am also applying for Governor's School for health care so we will see what happens there. The application process consists of writing an essay proposing a project addressing a health care issue in your community. But thanks for the advice!!!
