I want to go into the medical field?
So I'm a 16 year old guy, and my parents have been asking me what I want to do with my life, at youth group I decided it was time to really think about it when the teacher person asked what everyone was going to do after highschool, and only me and a I think 14 Year old girl didn't know. I have been thinking hard about this. I saw a movie about a neurosurgeon who I think is one of the best now even though he started with almost no chance or something like that. But anyways back to my question thing. I have been really thinking about the medical field because I love helping people, love science and medical related stuff, love hospitals, and just care about people. I have been thinking about being an RN because I of the above reasons, but I'm not completely sure. I don't care about money, I just want to know I am helping people. I have also begun thinking about stuff like neurosurgery(didn't know how interesting the brain is), and I'm actually kind of smart even though I act stupid. I am really good at science, and am working on getting my math grades up so I can go into 10th grade this year. I haven't told anybody about this because I am worried they will laugh at me for wanting to be a nurse or neurosurgeon. I just can't get this out of my head. I also have started looking at children hospitals. What should I do? I don't even know what I'm asking so sorry if its confusing.
Should I study pharmacy or medicine?
I am a junior and I don't know what should I study. I thought that I would like pharmacy (and have volunteered in the pharmacy department and got a pharm tech cert.), but I don't really like the stuff that I learn in my toxicology class (I am gonna take a pharmacology class next semster and see what happens there). I find that physiology and other biology stuff are more interesting than the stuff that I learned in my toxicology class. However, wouldn't it be too late if I wanna study medicine? I mean, I am a junior and I havent volunteered in any medical office or something like that. Or should I just stick to pharmacy?
I suck in math but i really want to be a doctor?
You will need to take at least through Calculus II in college to get into medical school. AP Stats is probably easier, but AP Calculus will help you more toward your career choice. I copied this from a site called bestpremed.com: Medical schools require that you take certain pre-medical classes as undergraduate. The "pre-med" classes required by virtually all schools in the US are as follows: A year of Freshman Chemistry along with the appropriate laboratory courses A year of Organic Chemistry along with laboratory courses A year of Biology along with laboratory courses A year of Physics along with laboratory courses A year of English A year of Calculus or other advanced math classes, including Statistics In addition, many schools require a certain number of credits in non-science classes. Less common are the schools that have more specific requirements such as coursework in Behavioral Sciences (Psychology), Philosophy, etc. Consult particular medschools (or look at their web sites) to find out the specifics. Pre-med requirements play a very important role in admissions for several reasons. Pre-med requirements make the bulk of the science classes you will take in college and determine your Science GPA, which one of the determinants of your chances of admission. You will need to get recommendations for medical schools from science faculty, and if you do not take other science classes, getting them from professors who taught pre-med classes will be your only option. Pre-med requirements cover most of the material you need to know for the MCAT. The better you know the stuff covered in these premed classes the better off you're when the time comes for taking MCAT. Schools ask you explicitly to list premed requirements along with your grades on their secondary applications, which means they bear a lot of weight. NOTE: "a year" in terms of college courses is 2 semesters. That means Calc I & II, Phys I & II, Chem I & II, Org Chem I & II, Bio I & II, Eng I & II. All of the science classes should be "for science majors," rather than the easier versions for non-science majors. This means calculus based physics, not algebra based. Here's a list of the top 100 med schools in the US: http://www.legaled.com/medschool100.htm
Why did you not choose to study medicine?
Contrary to your beliefs, there are a lot of people too who know what they want to do with their life and not at all interested in "IITs". Many have pointed out that they hated Biology and that was their prime reason. And please. If you want prestige and money, you should do medicine? Have you been to a govt hospital my dear? How much do you think most of those doctors earn? Not all engineers, CAs, scientists, start ups earn in millions similarly not all doctors take home a handsome salary. A little more effort you say? When you are swamped with work, complained to constantly, worried about your future a 'little more effort' could mean the difference between life and death. Coming to your "question", here may be some reasons. 1. They hated biology. Quite literally. 2. They loved other fields of science, arts or commerce. 3. It is really very difficult to qualify. I am not saying it is easy to qualify for good engineering colleges. Just that there are not as many 'good' medical colleges as engineering colleges. 4. There are tonnes of things you need to learn. You have to put that information to use. Like in many jobs where you study one thing but get a job in another, it is less likely to occur while studying medicine. 5. Not many can handle the sight of people dying in front of them or someone being in pain. 6. The working conditions, pressure of work, expectations can be inhumane. 7. Not everyone likes to be surrounded by people all the time. A doctor needs to interact with patients if he is a clinician. That is inevitable.8. High fees in private medical colleges. Fees can exceed well beyond 50lacs. 9. Ungratefulness. With so many cases of doctors being thrashed by patients or their relatives, many feel it is better to try their hand at something else. 10. Lack of social life. During college days it isn't felt but in days of internship and residency, docs hardly have time to attend to anyone. There goes your social life. 11. Money. Quite frankly, you need to be an excellent doctor or ability to market yourself well to churn out shitloads of money.
I am not very smart but really want to be a doctor. Should I give up this dream because I don't know how to increase my smartness?
There seems to be 2 types of doctors. There are those who are naturally smart (to whom things seem to come really easily) and those who have become doctors because they worked really, really hard. These are the ones that don't come across as being particularly bright when you talk to them.You don't have to increae your smartness/IQ. You need to work exceptionally hard. Read as much as you can. Read technical books about chemistry, physics and biology until you understand them. The do practice exam papers and go over and over them until you understand. When your friends are going out on a Friday night, you need to be sitting down studying.Yes you can become a doctor, you will just need to work a lot harder and apply yourself a lot more than others.