Dorothy Said:

What can a high school student do to prepare for medical school?

We Answered:

Right now, just focus on getting into the best college you can, and all that entails. Take AP courses, do well on the SAT and other exams, get involved in extracurriculars, etc. Do take four years of math and science, as that will both help with your college applications and prepare you for the premed courses in college. Feel free to volunteer in something related to medicine, but do that for your own enlightenment on whether medicine is right for you.

Medical schools don't care about anything you did in high school, to the point of strongly recommending AGAINST listing even high school activities on your med school application (the one exception is if you start an activity in high school that you continue throughout college). The thinking behind that is that you're a very different person when you're a junior in college as opposed to a junior in high school, and college is the time you should be taking classes and doing activities related to your goal of medicine...if all you have to put on your med school application is stuff from high school, you're screwed. ;) If this seems at all odd to you, just think, are you going to put classes/activities from middle school on your college applications? Of course not, because that's just silly. It's the same for including high school activities on your med school applications. So definitely do medicine-related stuff now if you're interested, but only for that reason (that, or if it will strengthen your college application). Good luck!

Also, don't stress about what kind of doctor you want to be...just figure out between now and junior year of college whether you really want to be a doctor at all. You have until the end of your third year of medical school to pick a specialty. Many people people start med school with only a vague idea of what they want to do, and even those who start med school thinking they absolutely know what specialty they want to go into usually change their mind about 30 times during school. For instance, a friend of mine started out wanting to go into pediatric psychiatry, and she's now going into surgery. So don't stress at all about not knowing know what you want to do specifically...it's really impossible to know until you have the training and the education under your belt to really decide what's right for you. :)

Ryan Said:

When Obama's free Health Care is made into Law will most of the Medical students still come from India & China?

We Answered:

Nothing FREE about raising your taxes 20% to pay for all the mooches who feed off our labor.
What doctors? If obama succeeds in ramming this down our throats--there will only be FNPs and PAs...to see you--and you'll be sick longer, die sooner, and we'll have the crap care england and most of the world has.
Thanks obama for reducing us to third world county!

Reginald Said:

How can I prepare for medical school?

We Answered:

Im a high school student planning to go to medical school after college too!

Well the best thing you can do is volunteer at a hospital near by. Honestly theres no point in getting a job because its almost imposible to get a job in the medical field in high school and all other jobs are useless. Internship now that would be great. In 2 years (when im a junior) im going to try and get into a radiology internship. Try to get one also of the field you want to go into.

Marlene Said:

What do I need in order to qualify for medical school?

We Answered:

1. You do not need a four year degree to apply to medical school. Most schools simply require that you have a degree prior to matriculation, but not prior to applying. There are even some schools that allow you to matriculate without a bachelor's degree; some schools go so far as to accept high school students into a seven year combined BS/MD program.

2. The specific requirements of schools vary, but in general you need a high GPA (3.5 or above), solid MCAT scores (above 28O), well rounded undergraduate courses with a heavy course load (they don't want science robots), and several meaningful activities outside of the classroom. This area is the most flexible, but should include leadership roles and medically related work. These days, it's also a good idea to participate in research and shadow a practicing physician.

3. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) along with dozens of medical schools, admissions officers, doctors, medical students, and premedical students host a variety of resources. The following sites will be very helpful to you:

http://www.aspiringdocs.org/site/c.luIUL…
http://www.studentdoctor.net/
http://aamc.org/

You should also purchase the current American Medical School Admissions Requirements in your junior year, and check a previous version out from the library prior to that. This book is published by the AAMC and contains admissions requirements, selection factors, and basic instructions for applying to every LCME accredited medical school in the USA and Canada. Good luck.