2 answers
Ava
Student
Nanuet, New York
1
Question
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If I want to get into medical school what classes should i take in high school?
please as many tips as possible
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2 answers
Audrey Eakman
MS-2, Biochemistry BS
37
Answers
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Updated
Audrey’s Answer
Hi Ava,
As a medical student, here are a couple of my insights on what was helpful for me in high school when pursuing a future career in medicine:
1) A strong background in math and science is really important. For admission to medical school, everyone has to take the MCAT, which is broken up into four subject tests. Of those four tests, two of them focus on hard science. One is the Biochemistry and Biology test, and one is the Chemistry and Physics test. Therefore, in high school, I recommend taking classes in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Physics and Chemistry are subjects that also rely on a good background in math, specifically Algebra and Calculus, so I suggest trying to take those classes as well.
2) Besides hard science classes, the MCAT also has a subject test in Psychology and Sociology. Therefore if your high school offers any psychology or sociology classes, those can be incredibly helpful. If they don't, I would recommend looking into things like dual enrollment classes at a local college or university.
3) The final subject test on the MCAT is Critical Analysis and Reasoning, which is basically the "Reading" section on the SAT. You read articles and answer questions about their content to evaluate reading comprehension and analysis. But on the MCAT, it's more advanced, and most of our reading prompts are nonfiction articles. So if your high school offers any English or Language Arts classes focusing on nonfiction or rhetorical text, that will be incredibly useful. You'll also likely get exposure to that kind of analysis in certain history, government, or economics classes, depending on your school or teacher.
4) Anatomy classes. If your school offers any anatomy classes, they're a really get way to be introduced to medical science. If not, again, I recommend trying to see if you could take college-level anatomy classes via dual enrollment.
5) Get college credit as early as you can. I've recommended a lot of dual enrollment here, which is a great way to get early college credit. Another opportunity is any AP or IB classes that your high school may offer. You have a lot ahead of you to study in college, and getting those more basic credits and classes out of the way in high school means you have fewer general education requirements to complete in college and more time to focus on getting good grades in pre-medical classes or finding opportunities like research.
6) Community service, volunteering, civic engagement, leadership roles, and shadowing at clinical or medical facilities are great ways to get experience and become a more competitive applicant to college and medical school. You don't have to be only focused on medical or health-related fields when doing community service and volunteering. What schools are looking for is a sense of service and civic duty, and altruism which translates to a medical career. Additionally, leadership roles in things like student organizations and clubs are a great way to get experience and distinguish yourself in applications. Lastly, many hospitals and clinics have shadowing opportunities for high schoolers to observe doctors practice medicine firsthand and get experience. These are great opportunities both for your appearance on an application and also so you can gauge what parts of medicine you like and if the career is best for you.
I hope that this helps you. Best of luck!
As a medical student, here are a couple of my insights on what was helpful for me in high school when pursuing a future career in medicine:
1) A strong background in math and science is really important. For admission to medical school, everyone has to take the MCAT, which is broken up into four subject tests. Of those four tests, two of them focus on hard science. One is the Biochemistry and Biology test, and one is the Chemistry and Physics test. Therefore, in high school, I recommend taking classes in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Physics and Chemistry are subjects that also rely on a good background in math, specifically Algebra and Calculus, so I suggest trying to take those classes as well.
2) Besides hard science classes, the MCAT also has a subject test in Psychology and Sociology. Therefore if your high school offers any psychology or sociology classes, those can be incredibly helpful. If they don't, I would recommend looking into things like dual enrollment classes at a local college or university.
3) The final subject test on the MCAT is Critical Analysis and Reasoning, which is basically the "Reading" section on the SAT. You read articles and answer questions about their content to evaluate reading comprehension and analysis. But on the MCAT, it's more advanced, and most of our reading prompts are nonfiction articles. So if your high school offers any English or Language Arts classes focusing on nonfiction or rhetorical text, that will be incredibly useful. You'll also likely get exposure to that kind of analysis in certain history, government, or economics classes, depending on your school or teacher.
4) Anatomy classes. If your school offers any anatomy classes, they're a really get way to be introduced to medical science. If not, again, I recommend trying to see if you could take college-level anatomy classes via dual enrollment.
5) Get college credit as early as you can. I've recommended a lot of dual enrollment here, which is a great way to get early college credit. Another opportunity is any AP or IB classes that your high school may offer. You have a lot ahead of you to study in college, and getting those more basic credits and classes out of the way in high school means you have fewer general education requirements to complete in college and more time to focus on getting good grades in pre-medical classes or finding opportunities like research.
6) Community service, volunteering, civic engagement, leadership roles, and shadowing at clinical or medical facilities are great ways to get experience and become a more competitive applicant to college and medical school. You don't have to be only focused on medical or health-related fields when doing community service and volunteering. What schools are looking for is a sense of service and civic duty, and altruism which translates to a medical career. Additionally, leadership roles in things like student organizations and clubs are a great way to get experience and distinguish yourself in applications. Lastly, many hospitals and clinics have shadowing opportunities for high schoolers to observe doctors practice medicine firsthand and get experience. These are great opportunities both for your appearance on an application and also so you can gauge what parts of medicine you like and if the career is best for you.
I hope that this helps you. Best of luck!
david kirk
Retired Computing Manager
480
Answers
Syracuse, New York
Updated
david’s Answer
That is a challenging career area, and my suggestion is to pursue this with your HS guidance counselor. I say that because, while this forum has its strengths, the format is mostly one question-one response. What you're asking requires a discussion, with multiple questions and answers that, in themselves, will likely create new questions. Your guidance counselor can know your current grades, what courses you have already taken, what courses your school could provide, plus any external opportunities for studies that might be available. Plus, your counselor may know of prior students and how they fared. I wish you the best.