So lets just say I want to be a doctor

[courageheartx]

Ok, so I'm currently an EMT-B I have been one for two years and I'm in medic school, my senior year of highschool (last year) I had the strong desire to become an ER doctor. However I didn't take the right classes and it wasn't towards the end of the year when I realized that I wanted to be one. So here is my plan, I will finish medic school get the AAS in that, get a job as a paramedic while going back to school to become a pre-hospital rn, and then go on to finish up what I need to, in order to become a dr. Is that a good idea?!?

My advice to you is to

a)verify that your grades are adequate and your average is high enough for whatever undergrad programs you apply for wherever you are.

b)really,i mean really take the time to do the research and critically analyze yourself. I could give you a book you could pick up and take a look at. It's called a life in medicine. Im sure you can find it anywhere. Its published by the princeton review.

c)this is not an overnight decision.

with that being said,i wish you the best in your future career decisions and remember,you only have one life to live! :twisted:

*edited*

[Doczilla]

Where are you? Are you in the U.S.? If so, then high school grades and coursework do not matter in any way for medical school.

Being a nurse or paramedic gives you a grounding in performing interviews and exams on patients. It also helps in certain small ways like running codes and starting IVs, but these are a very small part of what a physician, even an ER physician, does. By the time you graduate residency, it will be hard to distinguish you from your classmates who lack that experience prior to med school.

If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. You're already in paramedic school, so I wouldn't give that up. Get the experience you want as a paramedic and go on to medical school. Being an RN too is overkill. It won't really add much to your skillset that being a paramedic won't, and it's a whole lot more schooling. What do you hope to gain by being an RN as well?

Why an AAS in prehospital care? Again, this won't help your application. Get a 4 year degree (in anything), just make sure you get a year each of physics (with lab), chem (with lab), o chem (with lab), bio (with lab), english, and math like statistics or calculus.

Concentrate your efforts on your premedical coursework. It's fine to major in whatever you want (just do it well). There are some considerations for those with relevant medical experience, but that will get you only so far. When it comes right down to it, nobody will care what experience you've had if your grades aren't good. You'll miss the cutoffs that each school sets for entrance grades and scores and nobody will get the chance to look at your resume and see your experience. Everything else is just a waste of time, effort, and money.

'zilla

[Scaramedic]

I was going to be a Doctor, then they found out my parents were married.

[ERDoc]

If your goal is to become a doctor, skip all of the other stuff. Focus on your academics and getting involved with research. They are what will get you in. Don't worry about how much patient care experience you have, it will not matter. Working 80-100 hour weeks for 5+ years will provide you with plenty of experience. That's why it is called school. If you want to know what it entails to get there, see the other thread.

Yeah, and what 'Zilla said.

[Doczilla]

I was going to be a Doctor, then they found out my parents were married.

I thought I could be a paramedic, but then they realized that I was pure evil.

'zilla

[rock_shoes]

medicine hat college in alberta does but its not cma accredited as of yet.

Like I mentioned things are only moving in that direction now. Please don't think I'm suggesting people with less than a bachelors should be accepted into medical school. I just feel that people with a bachelors in a medical field make better candidates.

[ninjaemtff]

Well I would like to thank you all for your advice. I have reasearched it, and while researching, I realized that even though I think it would be awesome to be a doctor, my heart wouldn't really be in it, atleast not right now. I have this constant desire to actually be out in the field, and remain part of the EMS system. Like I said thank you all for your advice, some of it actually helped me from making a wrong decision.

[Dustdevil]

Like I said thank you all for your advice, some of it actually helped me from making a wrong decision.

Just remember that sometimes a decision isn't necessarily wrong, but it is the timing that is wrong. You have a lot of living and a lot of years ahead of you. Where your heart leads you today will probably not remain constant over the next twenty years. And it is rarely ever "too late" to change directions. I have a maxillo-facial surgeon friend who returned to medical school at age 50. My personal physician went to med school at age 40, having spent her life as a professional musician. Neither of those friends regret a moment of what they did before med school. So don't think that this is a decision that you have to make today, or even in the next ten years. If you are not 110 percent committed to something -- no matter what it is -- you definitely don't want to put all your eggs into that basket.

Good luck!

[ninjaemtff]

Just remember that sometimes a decision isn't necessarily wrong, but it is the timing that is wrong. You have a lot of living and a lot of years ahead of you. Where your heart leads you today will probably not remain constant over the next twenty years. And it is rarely ever "too late" to change directions. I have a maxillo-facial surgeon friend who returned to medical school at age 50. My personal physician went to med school at age 40, having spent her life as a professional musician. Neither of those friends regret a moment of what they did before med school. So don't think that this is a decision that you have to make today, or even in the next ten years. If you are not 110 percent committed to something -- no matter what it is -- you definitely don't want to put all your eggs into that basket.

Good luck!

Will you be my mentor???

[spenac]

What ever education you pursue try and do so where you get college credit. This way as life and time goes by you will be able to roll credits over to your new field.