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What should I major in if I want to be a neurosurgeon?

I’m a junior in high school and I plan to go to med school to be a neurosurgeon, but I have no idea what to major in. I thought maybe biochemistry, but I’m not sure. #neurosurgeon #surgery #majors #neurosurgery #collegemajor #medicine

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Miguel’s Answer

Hi Alexandria, To be a neurosurgeon you need a great understanding of anatomy, especially the nervous system. While as an undergraduate student I'd recommend enrolling in general biology courses designed for students majoring in biology. Those courses will provide you a basic understanding of overall human anatomy. Since your goal is to attend medical school, I'd recommend checking out the prerequisite and recommended courses for the medical colleges you want to attend. Also, medical schools are no longer just looking at students performance in science courses but also expect student to show interests in other non-science subjects. I would suggest majoring in any subject you're interested in as long as you satisfy all medical school required courses.
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Raquel’s Answer

To become a neurosurgeon you will have to go to medical school. Medical school is very competetive and hard to get into, but one wonderful thing about is it doesn’t really matter what your degree is in so long as you have completed all of the mandatory prerequisite courses and score well on the MCAT. That being said there are majors that are commonly used by pre-med students namely biology and chemistry. These majors have the medical school prerequisites as a part of the degree program so students don’t have to take extra classes outside of their major to fulfill those prerequisite requirements. If you are interested in biochemistry I would absolutely major in it! It is important to major in something that you are interested in so you are more invested and it is easier to dedicate the time to studying and you will enjoy it more. A biochemistry degree should get you all of the prerequisite courses as a part of your degree program, it will also benefit you by giving you higher up, more complex biology and chemistry classes that will provide you with useful knowledge for medical school. Other things to consider are that medical schools want to see a well rounded applicant with extra curricular including volunteering, research, shadowing, and leadership roles. So you want to pick a major where you will have time to dedicate to these things as well.

Best of luck!
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Yasemin’s Answer

Hi Alexandra! To be a neurosurgeon you will have to go to medical school and that being said you can be any major and apply to medical school. I was a Psychology major because it interested me and honestly I always loved Psychology; I think if you enjoy Biochemistry then definitely go for it! I do think that traditional majors like Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry may prepare you more for medical school as the classes will be more complex other than the prerequisites required. If you are a nontraditional major like English, Psychology or History to name a few, then you will take the prereqs but may not get introduced to as many higher up classes for medical school as you'd like. However, you can take those higher up classes like Anatomy and Physiology, Genetics and Cell and Molecular for example; even though I was a Psychology major I took many chemistry classes including Biochemistry and received my Chemistry minor because of it! If another major interests you, then you can declare it and also minor in something more science related like Biology or Chemistry allowing you to take upper classes as well. Medical school is much diversity and therefore I would focus on doing well in your classes and MCAT as well obtaining experience like shadowing and volunteering, this speaks more on your behalf as a competitive medical school applicant than the major you may choose!

Hope this helps!
Best of luck!
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