The Definitive Guide: A High Schoolers start on “The Doctor Journey”

“The Doctor Journey” is very long and for some, it starts when they are high schoolers. It also varies quite a bit for everyone. We all have our own obstacles as well as advantages when we head towards this route. This is written not to give you a definitive step-by-step pathway. However, this article is here to give you tips on how to utilize the opportunities and experiences that come your way. We will be highlighting important things to be looking out for and things to do starting from the high school level onwards.

High School

In high school, we are bombarded with so many things may it be education or personal life. Although committing to the field of medicine at this young age is a great advantage for all pursuing the field. Always better to start sooner than later. There are many opportunities that can arise for you to take to help solidify your plan towards medical school. We will try to list out many of the important things that you should or could keep in consideration.

Interest

Having an interest in medicine during high school is great, but don’t worry you still have plenty of time to decide on a career path during college as well. But before deciding on medicine as your career, take some time to research if the career is for you.

Becoming a physician is a long process and requires lots of dedication, and getting started early during high school would be a big advantage. To get some quick facts and insight about what a physician’s life looks like check out AAMC’s Aspiring Docs page and AAMC info for high schoolers. They list out some good testimonials and videos from physicians themselves.

Education

First and foremost, your education should be a priority in high school. High school is a time for development for us and we build and have many memories from this place. We would like to emphasize that one of the memories you have of high school should not be a regret in terms of your educational statistics.

Make sure you emphasize your education quite a bit and to work as hard as you can to maintain the highest level of academic grades. Learning many concepts in high school as well as study patterns may tend to help you out for college, but sometimes it may not. You should really emphasize upon working hard on the classes you take.

There are two things you want to emphasize in these classes: your grades and your education. These two things will be quite important in the future. The higher your GPA the more competitive you are compared to your counterparts and this will allow you to have an easier time getting an acceptance from a variety of colleges.

Extracurriculars

This right here is an important section for any college application as well as medical school application. We would definitely recommend you to do a variety of extracurriculars may it be volunteering or actual job experience. One thing we recommend is that if you are sure about going towards the medical field, attempt to find experiences related to the medical field.

One of the first and foremost things that many premeds do is volunteering at a hospital or clinic. It can get tricky sometimes with age restrictions and HIPAA restrictions, but you should start by looking online and contacting the local hospitals and clinics to see what kind of volunteering experiences are offered.

Longevity can be an advantage on your application as you show dedication to your service, so try to pick something that you would be able to incorporate into your schedule, potentially over the weekend! Volunteering can include things like a gift shop or front desk, as well as a variety of other opportunities that are offered depending on the location you have chosen. If possible try to open new opportunities from volunteering.

Also, try to apply to various summer programs that are offered for students interested in medicine if available. These will not only tell you if you have a passion for this career, but also will look good on applications! Showing colleges that you already have a career in mind will make you look more confident and stellar compared to the applicant pool.

Tip!!!

Try to shadow an M.D. or D.O., because you will get more of an idea of what each kind of physician does and it will be beneficial especially in the application towards medical school! This right here will help you become quite more competitive compared to many of your counterparts. You are not only learning firsthand what physicians of varying specialties do, but you are also able to open your network of individuals who can play a major role in your applications in the future. If you are able to shadow a doctor, make sure to develop a great relationship with the physician, so that they may be able to provide you a letter of recommendation!

Dual Enrollment

Attempt Dual Enrollment!!! If able to, apply to your local community college and take online or in-person courses at the community college. This is a key head-starter for many and can save you time in college to allow you to have a more open schedule later in your future and save potential semesters.

How do you go about this? First, see if there are any dual enrollment programs in your area and apply! Contact your high school counselor and see if there is any possible way for you to do dual enrollment with the school. If you are able to do this with the school, it would be ideal as the school would take on some of the paperwork that you would have to deal with. Say you are on your own, then you should express your wish to take college courses with your counselor and principal and obtain their support in this endeavor.

Look into your local community colleges and see what these colleges require from you in order to allow you to take courses at the campus. Usually, you will have to apply to the college as well as obtain permission from the counselor, principal, and your parents. Colleges tend to limit your amount of credits you can take especially at the high school level. It is highly recommended to take no higher than 6 credits, especially in the first year. Utilize websites such as ratemyprofessor.com, it can make a night and day difference with your class experience!

Applying

Choose your school

Make sure to do thorough research of the school that meets your needs. Look at their extracurricular and educational opportunities to see if they match what you want. Also, look into the matriculation rate of their students to the path of your choice, in this case, medical school.

If possible, after deciding on a few schools, go check the school out and see if you can envision yourself living there. This is very important, especially if you choose a premed route since good mental health will go a long way on this long journey! Keep in mind, choose something that is best for you, not your social life! We are not saying to sacrifice everything, but remember to put yourself in the driver’s seat as this is your life.

Majors

There are a variety of majors that one can go into to get into medical school. The majority of majors tend to be science-oriented as the sciences are the emphasis of MCAT and so getting into the sciences will already give you a headstart for the MCAT. 

There is a multitude of majors out there that make it to medical school, but the most popular majors are listed below according to the 2020-2021 AMCAS data:

Major	Applicants Applied	Applicants Matriculated	Percentage Matriculated
Biological Sciences	30,921	12,845	41.54%
Humanities	1,738	832	47.87%
Math and Statistics	342	156	45.61%
Physical Sciences	4,680	2,240	47.86%
Social Sciences	4,810	1,991	41.39%
Specialized Health Sciences	2,014	784	38.93%
Other Majors	8,525	3,391	39.78%
All Matriculants	53,030	22,239	41.94%

This chart right here shows the top majors that apply and get into medical school. It is very important to remember that the AAMC says they take into account GPA, MCAT, extracurriculars, and passion for medicine. Now the highest percentage of acceptances come from the Humanities majors which could be for a variety of reasons. These reasons could range from more free time to understand the CARS section the best of all majors (the worst section for premeds). This chart here is provided to show you the average stats for the major you’re interested in. Do NOT make your major decisions based on stats only. Make sure to take into account everything before deciding on the premed education you apply to.

MCAT Averages by Major

Major	Mean MCAT of Applicants	Mean MCAT of Matriculants
Biological Sciences	506.3	511.3
Humanities	508.4	512.8
Math and Statistics	510.5	514.3
Physical Sciences	509.2	513.3
Social Sciences	505.8	511.6
Specialized Health Sciences	503.5	510.3
Other Majors	505.5	511.1
All Matriculants	506.4	511.5

Take what you want from this, this is only averages. Although, it is interesting to see that those who major in math and statistics majors score higher than most other majors. The reason for this could be the way these majors push students to study and learn. Again, do NOT base your major off of averages, it is just for your information.

Special Programs

Consider enrolling in B.S./M.D. and B.S./D.O. programs as an accelerated pathway to get yourself into medical school. These programs tend to supplement you with a variety of resources to become a competitive applicant for many medical schools.

B.S./M.D. programs allow one to go from college to a M.D. medical school in a simple manner. Some schools require a certain MCAT score and GPA, while others do not have any such requirements.

B.S./D.O. programs are similar as they too allow students to go from college to a D.O. medical school in an expedient manner. Some of these schools have requirements, while others do not. If there are requirements, B.S./D.O. schools tend to have lower threshold scores than their B.S./M.D. program counterparts.

If you would like to learn more about the difference between D.O. and M.D. schools check out our other article.

Standardized tests

Standardized testing is another key point that needs to be considered. Keep in mind that if you are heading towards medical school, the SAT and the ACT are only the first of many standardized tests that are coming. It is important to spend some time and get a high score on a test of your choosing.

Each exam is a bit different; one test may be better suited for certain people. Do your research and study a bit for each one and see which one you want to take/put a lot of the emphasis on. Remember the SAT score and ACT score can help you to be a competitive applicant in college applications. Keep in mind that there is no easier test between the SAT and ACT, just whichever test you have a better feel for and decide to put more emphasis upon.

They take approximately about the same amount of time as well. For the SAT there is a Reading, Math, Writing & Language, and an optional essay section. For ACT there is an English, Math, Reading, Science, and optional essay section. The choice is up to you, and we recommend that you put your efforts in one test and score high!

Try to keep in mind that you do not want to do too many of these standardized tests, because some colleges want all of your scores. Our personal recommendation is to set some time apart and sacrifice a bit of your free time for this! We think it’s best that you bunker down and give it your all the first time around so that way in the future you have free time to do as you please, instead of preparing to take the test once again.

Personal Statement

When writing your personal statement, focus it on your medical interests to show college admission officers where you want to go in life. It shows your confidence and aspirations to them, which is exactly what you want to point out in the personal statement.

All they want to see is if you are the right fit at their college. If the college is known for good premed education, then they will love when you show them that medical interest. There are a variety of ways of going about your personal statement, but choose the way that best fits you as a person, because it will definitely be reviewed and reflected upon when you get your interview! We highly recommend that you take your drafts to individuals who are willing to read through them and give you great recommendations to highly improve the quality of your personal statement.

Final Words

Don’t overstress over things during high school! This is your last time as a kid. Enjoy it! But do keep that medicine goal in mind and do activities to achieve that goal.

Just a summary: find if medicine is the right path for you, do good in school, study for the SAT/ACT, participate in extracurriculars, and apply to places that fit your “Doctor Journey”.

If there are any questions please feel free to comment down below or contact us personally through the about page. We both have been accepted to medical schools, and come from different backgrounds. I’m sure we can help in whatever way you need!

by Joel Varughese and Kartik Goswami