2 answers
Rafael
Student
Cerritos, California
2
Questions
Updated
291 views
I'm a freshman bio-med major at UCI, and I was wondering how to start a track to medical school. Specializations happen in the 2nd year, and I was wondering how would I switch to the nursing major or the pediatric major?
How and when do I apply to med-school?
Login to comment
2 answers
Christopher Pichay
physician
3
Answers
Boston, Massachusetts
Updated
Christopher’s Answer
Hello Rafael!
Typically, there is a pre med advisory board at undergraduate institutions that have pre-med as a track: they will be important in guiding you about the requirements and prerequisites to get into medical school as well a primary source for recommendations and connections. If you are considering medicine, that would be the first group you should get in contact with.
It used to be that majoring in different subjects was not only enjoyable but required to set you apart from other candidates applying to medical school. That is currently no longer the case and it is beneficial to you as a candidate to be either a biology, chemistry, or similar science major not only to help with scoring well on the MCATs (medical college admissions test) but you can take further higher level courses to increase your resume prior to start of the MCATs. I understand that the MCATs are much different than when I took them some 100 years ago (JK/LOL) and actually contain medical and clinical scenarios which can only be encountered in higher level biology and biochemistry electives as an undergraduate.
Your focus does not have to be on pediatrics as a specialty at this point in time. You will only have that opportunity once you get into medical school to choose but until then, as an undergraduate, just focus on fulfilling the requirements to apply to medical school and excelling in those particularly. The medical advisory board of your undergraduate college should direct you on that.
Good luck and God bless!
Typically, there is a pre med advisory board at undergraduate institutions that have pre-med as a track: they will be important in guiding you about the requirements and prerequisites to get into medical school as well a primary source for recommendations and connections. If you are considering medicine, that would be the first group you should get in contact with.
It used to be that majoring in different subjects was not only enjoyable but required to set you apart from other candidates applying to medical school. That is currently no longer the case and it is beneficial to you as a candidate to be either a biology, chemistry, or similar science major not only to help with scoring well on the MCATs (medical college admissions test) but you can take further higher level courses to increase your resume prior to start of the MCATs. I understand that the MCATs are much different than when I took them some 100 years ago (JK/LOL) and actually contain medical and clinical scenarios which can only be encountered in higher level biology and biochemistry electives as an undergraduate.
Your focus does not have to be on pediatrics as a specialty at this point in time. You will only have that opportunity once you get into medical school to choose but until then, as an undergraduate, just focus on fulfilling the requirements to apply to medical school and excelling in those particularly. The medical advisory board of your undergraduate college should direct you on that.
Good luck and God bless!
You rock! This advice is very helpful.
Rafael
Rita Chuang
Physician
253
Answers
Henderson, Nevada
Updated
Rita’s Answer
Greetings. I also grew up in Cerritos.
So, this is your timeline:
4 years of college,
4 years of medical school -first 2 years you are in the classroom, second 2 years, you do rotations (pediatrics, surgery, internal medicine, etc)
minimum of 3 years in internship and residency
You can major in whatever you want in college. Let's say you are a Biology major and decide you want to go into nursing. I don't think it will matters.
If you want to be in a competitive field in medicine (Dermatology, Surgery), you need to do well in medical school. There is so much information to memorize in medicine. If you want to go into these fields and you are not fast in memorizing, start early and learning about medicine. I recommend every pre-med student work as a medical scribe. Why? First, they pay you but this is the least important reason. The main things are, you are in the room with the patient and the doctor. You are learning the language of medicine and how to think. You are seeing how doctors deal with difficult patients and believe me, this is probably a skill we should all learn. You learn how to write a note and how to think like a doctor. I challenge everyone to start work when the doctor starts work, not when they see their first patient and leave when the doctor finishes all his/her notes, refills, answering questions etc. If during this time you are with the doctor and your first thought is, "I want to go home. I hate this," this is not the job for you. Common things happen commonly so when you are learning these things in medical school, it will be easier. You can talk with the doctor and ask him/her, what would you do differently if you had to do this again.
Medicine is completely different than what I imagined. I'm use to being in a classroom and just taking tests. That's fine the first 2 years of medicine but during the second 2 years, the "teachers" start asking you questions in front of your peers. They like confident students that know their stuff and speak up. Being an introverted shy person, this was difficult. You work long hours---overnight, no sleep, making you speak in front of everyone. It was painful. Then, when I opened my own practice, it was again, long hours...starting to review labs and refill medicines and answering patient questions at 6:30 AM while eating breakfast, driving to work at 7:30 AM getting ready to see patients, writing notes, reviewing more notes, refills, and more questions in between seeing patients, having to deal with angry patients who "had to be seen" for an emergency. I burned out and most doctors do burn out. Recently, there was an article stating most doctors spend 60 hours a week on work. I'm bringing my computer with me on vacations to refill, answer questions etc. I'm not doing this to scare you but I'm giving you an idea of what you may be encountering. There are several articles saying there will be a shortage of primary care doctors in the next 10 years because the burn out with doctors is so high. I burned out a few years ago. I returned from seeing patient at about 52-53 years old which is considered young. My friends are saying the same thing.
If you work as a scribe, you can see what some doctors may experience and decide if this is for you. It is not a job for everyone.
So, this is your timeline:
4 years of college,
4 years of medical school -first 2 years you are in the classroom, second 2 years, you do rotations (pediatrics, surgery, internal medicine, etc)
minimum of 3 years in internship and residency
You can major in whatever you want in college. Let's say you are a Biology major and decide you want to go into nursing. I don't think it will matters.
If you want to be in a competitive field in medicine (Dermatology, Surgery), you need to do well in medical school. There is so much information to memorize in medicine. If you want to go into these fields and you are not fast in memorizing, start early and learning about medicine. I recommend every pre-med student work as a medical scribe. Why? First, they pay you but this is the least important reason. The main things are, you are in the room with the patient and the doctor. You are learning the language of medicine and how to think. You are seeing how doctors deal with difficult patients and believe me, this is probably a skill we should all learn. You learn how to write a note and how to think like a doctor. I challenge everyone to start work when the doctor starts work, not when they see their first patient and leave when the doctor finishes all his/her notes, refills, answering questions etc. If during this time you are with the doctor and your first thought is, "I want to go home. I hate this," this is not the job for you. Common things happen commonly so when you are learning these things in medical school, it will be easier. You can talk with the doctor and ask him/her, what would you do differently if you had to do this again.
Medicine is completely different than what I imagined. I'm use to being in a classroom and just taking tests. That's fine the first 2 years of medicine but during the second 2 years, the "teachers" start asking you questions in front of your peers. They like confident students that know their stuff and speak up. Being an introverted shy person, this was difficult. You work long hours---overnight, no sleep, making you speak in front of everyone. It was painful. Then, when I opened my own practice, it was again, long hours...starting to review labs and refill medicines and answering patient questions at 6:30 AM while eating breakfast, driving to work at 7:30 AM getting ready to see patients, writing notes, reviewing more notes, refills, and more questions in between seeing patients, having to deal with angry patients who "had to be seen" for an emergency. I burned out and most doctors do burn out. Recently, there was an article stating most doctors spend 60 hours a week on work. I'm bringing my computer with me on vacations to refill, answer questions etc. I'm not doing this to scare you but I'm giving you an idea of what you may be encountering. There are several articles saying there will be a shortage of primary care doctors in the next 10 years because the burn out with doctors is so high. I burned out a few years ago. I returned from seeing patient at about 52-53 years old which is considered young. My friends are saying the same thing.
If you work as a scribe, you can see what some doctors may experience and decide if this is for you. It is not a job for everyone.
Thank you so much for the advice.
Rafael