As a BS/MD applicant, you are stating at a young age your intent and desire to become a physician. However, many young adults (even students in undergrad or beyond) don't know what they want to pursue. How can I know at the young age of 15 or 16 that this is something I want to commit to for the rest of my life? Great question.
This is a decision not to be taken lightly as you are committing to year of schooling and subsequent training. By the time you are out of school and training (residency), most will be at least 30 years old whereas many of those you went to high school with may have been working for the past 8 years. Some will say the pay differential will be worth it. Many studies indicate this may not be the case, especially with the high level of student debt many students take on.
The purpose of this post is to encourage you to discover if medicine is right for you. First and foremost, you have to have a desire to help others. It has to be an innate desire. Enjoying science also helps.
1) Start with volunteering at various community service events where you can build and understand your desire to help those that are less fortunate.
2) Then, begin volunteering at a local hospital where you can become engaged with sick patients and help serve them and learn from them. You'll also hopefully be able to interact with physicians and see how meaningful a physician-patient relationship is.
3) Shadow. Contact local physicians or those associated with academic centers to shadow them. Try to shadow in different fields because medicine is a very diverse field. If you don't enjoy working with your hands but then shadow an orthopedic surgeon, you may not like it, and vice versa. Shadow different doctors to truly gain an understanding for the field and talk to them about the career. More on this in the next post!
I hope this helps give you an understanding of how to decide as a young high school student if medicine is a career for you! Do community service, volunteer, and shadow!
Questions? Email at [email protected]
This is a decision not to be taken lightly as you are committing to year of schooling and subsequent training. By the time you are out of school and training (residency), most will be at least 30 years old whereas many of those you went to high school with may have been working for the past 8 years. Some will say the pay differential will be worth it. Many studies indicate this may not be the case, especially with the high level of student debt many students take on.
The purpose of this post is to encourage you to discover if medicine is right for you. First and foremost, you have to have a desire to help others. It has to be an innate desire. Enjoying science also helps.
1) Start with volunteering at various community service events where you can build and understand your desire to help those that are less fortunate.
2) Then, begin volunteering at a local hospital where you can become engaged with sick patients and help serve them and learn from them. You'll also hopefully be able to interact with physicians and see how meaningful a physician-patient relationship is.
3) Shadow. Contact local physicians or those associated with academic centers to shadow them. Try to shadow in different fields because medicine is a very diverse field. If you don't enjoy working with your hands but then shadow an orthopedic surgeon, you may not like it, and vice versa. Shadow different doctors to truly gain an understanding for the field and talk to them about the career. More on this in the next post!
I hope this helps give you an understanding of how to decide as a young high school student if medicine is a career for you! Do community service, volunteer, and shadow!
Questions? Email at [email protected]
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