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What age can you start college for Pediatric Oncology?

I want to be a Pediatic Oncologist when I grow up. I want to help little kids because it warms my heart. I also plan on doing CNA in my high school to help with my medical skills in the future. My future is super important too me, none of my family went to college to get a degree in anything so I will be the first inmy family and I think that is so cool and important to me. #high-school #college #future

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Estelle’s Answer

You will start college as soon as you finish high school, typically at age 18. You will need to complete four years of college, followed by 4 years of medical school, followed by 6 years of residency to do peds heme onc.
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Yasemin’s Answer

Hi Brooke! First of all congratulations on your route, I was a first generation college student too. To be a pediatric oncologist you will need to go to medical school and obtain a medical degree. For college you can start college at any age, I knew a student who began college at the age of 24 after he took a couple gap years traveling the world! Usually college is after high school and most students begin at age 18; after you go to college you would apply to medical school. As a college student you would take the premed route and take prerequisite classes such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc. I believe that being a CNA would help you in getting patient exposure and experience which would make you a better medical student as well. In college make sure to meet up with your premed adviser as they will help guide you on the path to medical school; usually they are in the Biology department. Be sure to maintain good grades and a good GPA (3.8+) and obtain a good MCAT score (508+) to be competitive for medical school in addition to completing some extracurriculars that are meaningful for you and will help in preparation as well. Research and community service are recommended; if you are a CNA during college that will help in the clinical aspect so clinical community service may not be required. I would also recommend to obtain shadowing where you can follow a physician throughout their day and get exposure and experience in their life. I believe you still have time and I would recommend to check AAMC.org because they give much helpful information for students pursuing the medical route, you apply to medical school through this website and take the MCAT through here. It is great you are serious about school and I believe with hard work you will accomplish your dreams!

Best of luck!

Yasemin recommends the following next steps:

Visit AAMC.org
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Darcel’s Answer

Your academic preparation in high school for a career in the medical field starts with you taking the science and math courses required.
These course will give you a strong foundation; course are Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy and/or Physiology. Taking course for a CNA is not the same medical course as Nurses and Medical doctors. It's so exciting to be the first in your family to go to college. There are so many programs and financial aid assistant for first generation college student especially if your family is low income. I really hope you love and are good in the sciences and math course required for the medical field. Let's focus on being a pediatric doctor first. The following information is from the internets show the required courses: To be a pediatrician, doctors attend 4 years of medical school and spend 3 years as medical residents in pediatrics. They will see your child multiple times a year until age 2, and at least once a year after that for annual physicals and sick visits. To be board-certified, a pediatrician must pass an exam from the American Board of Pediatrics.
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Physicians and surgeons have demanding education and training requirements. Physicians typically need a bachelor’s degree, a degree from a medical school, which takes 4 years to complete, and, depending on their specialty, 3 to 7 years in internship and residency programs.

Darcel recommends the following next steps:

Consider attending your local community college for prep- courses to transfer to a four year public university/college then med school
Continue to strive for A's and Bs' in your high school courses especially the science and math course. You may need a 3.6 -4.0 GPA to get into med school
If you someone who know a pediatrician see if you can schedule a face time or zoom meeting with them for 30 minutes.
Don't be afraid to asking for help and information about the medical field working with children and babies.
Keep in mind if the academic road to becoming a pediatrician doesn't suit you you can become a Pediatric Nurse! Good luck!
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