Wow, total mess.. Where do I start?

[MandaPanda]

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So I do not have any idea where to start at..
I am turning 19 this summer and have had a total change in heart about what I want to do with my life. I have decided that I want to become a pediatrician. But the thing is, I have no idea where to start.
I have been out of high school for a while now. But I did have my struggles with falling into the wrong crowd. Thankfully I pulled myself out andgot my life back in order. I ended up being homeschooled, and when they told me I had no chance of graduating with my normal class year I proved them wrong by graduating with a 4.0 and an academic excellence in Science. After summer I decided that I wanted to go to school and went to Everest College (a trade school in case you didn't know what it was) for Pharmaceutical Technician. Then suddenly I realized that is far from what I want to do.
I did my research and yes, I know it's a huge decision. But there is something inide of me that is driving me to do this. And I know from my past, that I am definately able to do it.
When I told my parents about it the looks on their faces were both pride and total anguish. (From what I gather from my mother it is because of the finances, to which I replied I will do it on my own if need be.)
But what I honestly need help on this, where do I start?
Who do I talk to?
Do I start a a community college?
ARG! haha.

 

[combatwombat]

I have decided that I want to become a pediatrician. But the thing is, I have no idea where to start.

Shadow one! You could do it over the summer. Then if you decide you still want to go for it, you could sign up for prereqs at your local 4-year (I wouldn't go for a CC). A post-bac program might be good, many have financial aid options. Just going on what you say it sounds like you could then do 2 classes per semester while working as a pharmacy tech and maybe shadowing or volunteering a bit on the side.

As for who to talk to, you've come to the right place. SDN has probably helped me more than my pre-med advisor... Many people here are quite knowledgeable, though don't forget it's the internet and that you have to take some things with a grain of salt. If you wind up enrolling in a undergraduate courses, you might also have access to a pre-med advisor.

 

[ChairmanMao]

Let me ask you: why do you want to become a doctor? I realize that you may have a hard time answering this, but you really have to understand the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to go down this path. You will need to go to a 4-year college and take the science pre-requisites (chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, biology) and the admissions exam MCAT (not a walk in the park). You will then go to medical school (another 4 years) and then you will do a resident training program for 3-6 years.

Your parents are right to be concerned; it'll be at least 12-16 years before you can practice medicine on your own. On top of that, going to college and medical school will mean that you may end up $200,000 in debt (repaying your college and student loans will take a number of years even after you graduate). I really don't know what your background is or how well you did in school, however, if you want to go to medical school, you may want to get in touch with the premedical advisor at a 4 year college in order to get a better idea of the right steps in going to medical school.

 

[vtucci]

Many medical schools do not consider prereqs completed at a CC to be as rigorous as those completed at a 4 year program. Most programs require a bachelor's degree so I would suggest enrolling at a 4 year school. If you already have an associate's degree from the pharm tech, great. Build from that.

Keep in mind that you will need to keep as high a GPA as possible (particularly Math, Bio, Chem and Physics) to be competitive for medical school.

I also second the notion of shadowing a pediatrician. You need to see what they do on a daily basis. I know some people who loved being aroudn kids and figured peds would be a great career path for them until that is how they felt working with sick kids and their parents. Shadowing a peds ER doc may also be an interesting experience for you and I would recommend that as well because ER docs work all hours of the day and night and weekends and it can most easily fit into most people's schedules.

Get some solid volunteer work, extracurricular activities for your application as well. But nothing will take priority over getting good grades. That needs to be your focus. You need to have bio I and II with lab, Chem I and II with lab, Orgo I and II with lab and physics I and II with lab at the very least on the science side. Some programs also require biochem.

You need to find an advisor who can guide you through the process. On your own, you can start researching your instate schools online and see what their requirements are.

Always consider asking your professor for letters of rec (esp if you can arrange to take more than 1 class with a professor).

Good luck!