One for the future doctors in High School!

I thought I'd do a few blog posts whilst I'm working on some videos about getting in to med school. A lovely young lady named Mia sent us a message from our facebook page asking a few questions and I'm going to try and answer them across a few blog posts!

So, to start off with..

"What should high schoolers know before entering med school?" - Mia

As far as my knowledge goes, med school in the USA is a post grad degree. In the UK, you can go into med school as soon as you've finished High School. 

Firstly; if you want to study medicine enough, then you can do it.

There are plenty of post grad students studying medicine with non-science degrees. However, if you've decided early on that you want to do medicine, it's better to demonstrate your dedication by studying a related subject at undergraduate level; doing a science will make life easier when it comes to learning medicine.

In the UK a lot of schools will take on students with non-science degrees under an extended scheme where you have extra science lectures in the first couple of years to get you up to speed.  Not all universities have the same entrance requirements. Have a look at the places you want to go and read the prospectus on line or contact the school for one. Some Universities may need you to have gained grades in certain subjects (almost always biology and chemistry) as these are the backbones of actually learning about the human body, if you'll excuse the pun.

What a lot of people forget, however, is that being a good Doctor is a lot more than being a walking textbook. 

Think about the qualities that you would want in your Doctor. It sounds like a cheesy office-team building phrase, but communication and teamwork are really important aspects of your personality to demonstrate when applying for Med School. I, personally, think that being able to demonstrate that you can communicate with people is the most important thing of all. 

The people interviewing you will know how tough it can be studying medicine at times. It's more likely they're going to give a place to someone who shows that they have interests outside of medicine too. If you don't have hobbies or interests to enjoy on your "down time" from studying then you're more likely to burn out.

Like I said in my message to Mia; it doesn't really matter what you're passionate about (aside from wanting to study medicine) as long as you show that you can be committed and really talk about what you love with enthusiasm.

So to give a real-life example, I thought I'd let you guys know about how I got into Med School.

Getting the right grades in the right subjects:

I was lucky enough to know that I wanted to study medicine when I was 14, so worked really hard at my GCSE exams. My University only had requirement of Maths GCSE at grade B or above, but it goes without saying that having good grades across all of your subjects will be a bonus.

I did the basic GCSEs of Maths, IT and English but also did Geography, French, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (all as separate sciences),  I also studied Latin until I was 16. I'd really recommend doing this if you can, you'll be so pleased you did when it comes to your first day of anatomy teaching! Everything will make a lot more sense.

Most Universities are looking for those with the highest grades in whatever their last exams were. That's unavoidable, there are exceptions but these are few, so you do have to work hard.

Then there's some bad news... everyone applying to medical school has really good grades!

So on the subjects front, think outside of the box. Medicine isn't just about science, it's about human interaction too. Have something that makes you stand out (but, again, check what your university entrance requirements are!)

I have always been into ancient Greek literature, myths and art, so instead of doing the standard "Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics" subjects that a lot of students wanting to go to med school did (and not all of them got a place!) I did Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Classical Art, Architecture and Literature. 

It turns out that both of my non-science subjects were really useful when I got to Med School. In Geography, there was a physical and human geography component. "Human Geography" taught me a lot about global health, such as how natural disasters affect the health of displaced populations after an event. You also learn about health care disparity between less economically developed and economically developed countries, which is useful for if/when you do an elective abroad or are interested in global health.

Then there was my Classical Art, Architecture and Literature module. Okay, so diagnosing a patient isn't the same as interpreting an ancient Greek vase, but both require you to look, think, apply what you know and then communicate your thoughts/findings. The same can be said for any subject where you're analysing a piece of work, whether it's a poem, piece of art or historical evidence. 

The literature side of it meant I picked up a bit of Ancient Greek (again, so useful when you're learning anatomy and physiology) and, as someone who is fascinated by people, the stories themselves and how they reflect the human condition was something I talked about in my Med School interview!

Okay, so, you're going to get the grades. CHECK! Now you need the "extras"

The sooner you can get in to volunteer work, the better. I spent 2 summers volunteering for a Special Needs Activity Project (SNAP) with a local school. You'll find you meet a lot of other aspiring doctors at places like this. You don't have to spend money going to a developing country to volunteer; so don't worry if there are other people who have done that. It's about what you learnt from the experience and not where you did it. I can almost guarantee you that you'll be asked, in interview, what you learnt from volunteering.

Organise work placements if possible. Not only does this look good on your CV but it also gives you a chance to see how a hospital really works. No, I mean, really works... as much as I want to say it's like House or ER, it isn't. It can be, at times, but there's always a lot more paperwork! You need to get in early to do this because a lot of hospitals only have so many places and it can work on a first-come-first-serve basis. I may be wrong, but as of yet, I've not heard of anyone rocking up to a hospital and just being allowed to shadow a doctor, you have to go through checks beforehand and this can take a while. I did 2 weeks shadowing an orthopaedic surgeon in a local hospital. Use this time to ask the doctors, junior doctors and students you meet how they got in to med school too!

....I have some good news and some bad news now.

The bad news is that almost everyone applying will also have work experience and volunteer work placement. So it's a level playing field again.

The good news? You can do something about this!

The most important bit of advice I could give you is:

It doesn't matter what you're passionate about, as long as it's about something! Show that you can follow-through with something outside of trying to get into med school. People with extracurricular activities are likely to carry these on to University. This is good for 2 reasons

1. Universities are looking for students who will contribute to University life as a whole.
2. They know you're less likely to burn out if you can lose yourself in a hobby or interest on your time-off.

And the rest? (in list form, because I love a good list)

1. Read books about being a doctor ; "Trust Me I'm a Junior Doctor" is a good one for British students, I'm sure there are US equivalents. Google one that takes your interest. 
2. Keep up to date with health news , this is especially important if you're offered an interview as you could (as I was) be asked a question about a recent piece of news. BBC Health News is my personal favourite. 
3. Learn some basic medical ethics as, again, you might be asked about "what you would do" in a particular scenario. I'm going to be doing videos on medical ethics in the next few weeks, so keep en eye out over on our YouTube Channel and subscribe so you can be the first to know when they're up!
4. Remember that medicine isn't the only way you can help people. Have a back-up plan. This goes for anything in life that you really, really want. Sometimes, often unfairly, you have to take another route. You can always keep on applying for medical schools if you're not lucky the first time around, but think about what you'd do in that time, just in case.
5. There are courses for getting in to medical school , I found the one I went on when I was 15 really useful, but it doesn't mean you're definitely going to get a place. They'll tell you a lot of what I've told you here but you can meet other students and get a feel for the people you're going to be competing against. Just, don't turn it into a Hunger Games style match when you get there to increase your odds of becoming a doctor, no matter how tempting it may be.
6. Watch our videos! Like this one by Zack (linked and shown below) on tips for the medical school interview. 

Any questions? Leave them in the comments below! I hope this was helpful. The next post will be covering "What you should know about Med School and Is it right for you?"

So having said all that...

-Harriet :)