So, you wanna be a doctor,huh?

The decision to pursue a medical career, whether as a doctor, nurse, or other heathcare professional should be a careful one. With so many TV shows and movies portraying doctors in the media, it’s easy to think about how glamorous those jobs look on television. Carefully think about why you are interested in the field, and what kinds of things you hope to accomplish and get out of your job. Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself as you consider this path.

Do you enjoy studying the health sciences? Do you like working with people? How are your communication skills? Do you think you would enjoy talking to new people and helping them with illness? Are you ready to dedicate a significant portion of your undergraduate life simply trying to get into med school? And when you get there, are you ready to dedicate 4 years to completing medical school and another 3-7 years completing your residency?

Before you dedicate the better part of your young life to the pursuit of a medical education, think about your reasons for wanting to pursue a career, and spend some time researching the road to the MD. Talk you your friends or relatives who have connections to the healthcare field. Talk to your own personal doctor about their career choices. Given the chance would they do it all over again? 

What is the path the young Jedi must undertake to become a doctor?

Well, for most people, the planning comes early in your college career. (Some people do pursue alternate career interests first like engineering or the military first and become physicians later, but we’ll focus on the traditional methods.)

Expect to take several years of undergraduate classes in the basic sciences. Expect to take one year each of Biology, Physics, English, and two years of chemistry, including Organic Chemistry. This is not to say that your entire college life be dedicated to the sciences, but you can expect that these classes take a significant amount of your first few years of college to complete successfully.

Prior to your 4th year of College you’ll be expected to take and do well on the MCAT exam, acquire letters of recommendation, participate in community service or research, in addition to keeping up good grades.

During your senior year (or the year after if you choose to take some time off) you’ll apply to the Allopathic medical schools thru the AAMCAS process. Each medical school that is interested in you will ask for an interview that year, and in the Spring of your application year you can expect to get the “thick envelope” or a brief letter telling you “good luck” on your career elsewhere!

So You’re In, Now What?

After you enter medical school, the work really begins! After toiling for 2 years of the basic sciences (anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, etc…) you’ll finally enter the hallowed grounds of the hospital wards (real patients) and learn how to take care of sick people in hospitals, and to manage them as outpatients (regular checkups.) And after all this schooling, you have to complete a residency. That is, train specifically for your field of interest (Pediatrics, Adult Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, or what have you) in a residency that is 3-7 years more on average. Still interested? Read on!

Pre Med Essentials – Preparing for your career Learning to Play God Dr. Marion reveals the dehumanizing, slightly insane, and often brutal process of medical training. You will experience not only the intense pressure and chronic exhaustion of the doctor-to-be, but also the price the patient must often pay. While each story stands alone as an adventure in medicine, taken together they are a call to change.  Getting In : How Not To Apply to Medical School (Medical Student Survival Series) Getting In: How Not To Apply to Medical School is a tough, practical guide for people storming the ramparts of medical school admission boards. Paul Jung takes the pre-med or second-career aspirant from pre-application experiences through the application process with a very practical approach. The book is filled with the pitfalls and misconceptions applicants frequently make, rendering the subtitle particularly apt and (for those terrified of the unknowns) eminently appealing. The volume also includes self-diagnostic sections and common pitfalls to avoid when applying to medical school. Essays That Worked for Medical Schools: 40 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation’s Top Medical School  As Essays That Worked for Medical Schools demonstrates, there is no such thing as the perfect submission. The winning essays cover a wide range of interesting topics. If there is any similarity, it is that they are written from the heart. White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Med School A medical student’s thoughtful and revealing chronicle of growing into the white coat of a doctor under Harvard Medical School’s New Pathway system, beginning with day one of orientation and ending with graduation four years later. Med School Confidential Med School Confidential from Robert H. Miller and Daniel M. Bissell uses the same chronological format and mentor-based system that have made Law School Confidential and Business School Confidential such treasured and popular guides. It takes the reader step-by-step through the entire med school process–from thinking about, applying to, and choosing a medical school and program, through the four-year curriculum, internships, residencies, and fellowships, to choosing a specialty and finding the perfect job. The Intern Blues: The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor While supervising a small group of interns at a major New York medical center, Dr. Robert Marion asked three of them to keep a careful diary over the course of a year. Andy, Mark, and Amy vividly describe their real-life lessons in treating very sick children; confronting child abuse and the awful human impact of the AIDS epidemic; skirting the indifference of the hospital bureaucracy; and overcoming their own fears, insecurities, and constant fatigue. Their stories are harrowing and often funny; their personal triumph is unforgettable.