If you are interested in a career in medicine, you can begin to set yourself up for a lifetime of academic and professional success by taking a challenging, appropriately balanced curriculum in high school. High school students should begin their planning early, and they should consider the advice below.
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1. Understand the impact of your high school performance: Your high school achievements are primarily evident on your medical school application in terms of their impact on your college record. A rigorous high school curriculum affects the undergraduate programs you’ll be admitted to, whether you earn college credit for your work in high school and how well prepared you are for college.
Generally, three factors matter most when applying to medical school: the college you attend, your undergraduate GPA and your MCAT score. You may receive college credit if you register for and excel in Advanced Placement or dual-enrollment classes, but even if you do not receive credit, you may understand the material more thoroughly when you take it at a finer level of detail in college, which thus makes it possible for you to improve your GPA.
In addition, each time you take a subject, you will likely find it easier to master, and, as previously mentioned, your knowledge of it will broaden. Cell biology is just one subject that a hopeful physician will study at every level, including medical school, and it may be wise to become intimately familiar with it early on.
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2. Choose the correct courses: The ideal high school schedule includes AP, or honors classes if AP courses are not available. The hard sciences — biology, chemistry and physics — underpin the practice of medicine, and as the MCAT now integrates more disciplines than ever, it makes sense to complete both AP Biology and AP Chemistry. As you take these AP classes, focus on their overlap in areas like modern experimental techniques and molecular structure.
Use your four years of high school to also take an advanced English course like AP English Language and Composition or AP English Literature and Composition. A science-minded student who can apply the critical reasoning and language skills required by the humanities will do better in both science classes and on the MCAT’s Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section.
Learning Latin can also improve your verbal ability. This can be invaluable on the SAT, and it can help you understand vocabulary in your science courses up to — and especially including — your medical education. Develop the habit of studying etymology, whether in Latin or in English class, such as when you encounter Greek poetry concepts.
When it comes to math, Algebra II is the minimum experience you will need to interpret graphs and solve equations in undergraduate science classes and on the MCAT. Higher-level math is always welcome, with calculus and statistics particularly complementing one another.
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3. Select applicable extracurriculars: Be certain that you want a life in medicine, as it is an all-consuming, challenging career. The utility of shadowing physicians as an extracurricular depends on how you approach this experience — doctors are busy, and you will not learn all you need to know about medicine from them.
But most physicians are caring people, and they enjoy helping a young person who hopes to follow the medical calling. Shadowing lets you listen closely to a doctor, which is an opportunity to gain an insider’s perspective. Since you may not follow a physician all day, keep in mind that you may not be seeing all the settings in which he or she works: the clinic, emergency room, wards and more.
Volunteering in a nursing home can provide an additional opportunity to interact with doctors, as can volunteering as an EMT. If you meet the minimum age requirement, you can gain patient care experience, as well as anatomy and physiology knowledge. While it is not the same as being a physician, ensuring you are comfortable with vital responsibility is important before you commit to many years of medical training.
With both college and medical school admissions growing in difficulty each year, challenging yourself in high school can both improve your chances of acceptance to medical school, and prepare you for the long road ahead.
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Lay the Foundation for Medical School Success in High School originally appeared on usnews.com
