High School Students & Parent Information
Are you or your son or daughter thinking about becoming a doctor? Do you have basic questions of where to start? Listed below are some helpful links and information to guide both parents and eager high school students:
- Educational Steps to Becoming a Doctor
- Apply to college and earn a bachelor's degree, usually four years, while completing all of the pre-med prerequisites required.
- Contact the Pre-Health advisors at your undergraduate campus for detailed information to prepare you to be a competitive applicant.
- Apply to medical school and attend medical school for another four years.
- After medical school, you would go on to a residency training program. This is where you actually specialize in a particular area of medicine such as Pediatrics, Surgery, Family Practice, or Radiology. Most residencies are about three years, although some can last up to nine, depending on the specialization.
- The AAMC has a wonderful timeline for traditional applicants and other resources for students considering medical school.
- The AAMC is the governing body of all accredited US medical schools and provides the most up-to-date events in medical education and resources/programs for students interested in medical school.
- Visit www.aamc.org/students/ for information about medical school programs, application processes, and all the many services provided to parents and students.
- ExploreHealthCareers.org
- Learn more about the types of courses you can take in high school that lead to a broad range of health careers
- Be prepared to continue taking the math and sciences at the undergraduate level. High school courses (including AP/IB credit courses) are not there to replace the prerequisites but prepare you for the undergraduate curriculum you intend to study.
- Also utilize ExploreHealthCareers.org for additional resources and research for additional programs to develop your understanding of health careers.