10 Things Every Pre-Med Should Know About Becoming a Doctor

Advice, observations, and tips about applying to medical school, surviving med school, and thriving in your subsequent career.

[MrJijack]

1:09 #1 Your undergraduate major is irrelevant

4:04 #2 The highest ranked schools and residences don't necessarily provide the best clinical training

5:11 #3 A bright, self-motivated person can succeed and thrive in any school or training program, but pedigree still matters for competitive specialties and academic positions.

5:53 #4 The value of an excellent mentor cannot be overstated (an no, your official pre-med advisor does not count)

7:59 #5 A strong commitment to 2-3 unique activities will be more valued and more personally rewarding than superficial involvement in a dozen conventional ones

10:15 #6 It's completely fine to do something between college and medical school, but make that time count.

11:12 #7 Primary care is exhausting, undervalued, and under-compensated, but desperately needed.

13:05 #8 A typical doctor spends only a fraction fo the day with patients

15:16 #9 Becoming a doctor is not a good way to become rich.

17:18 #10 Medical school should not be your career default pathway, irrespective of whether or not you see yourself doing anything else.

[gibbyyyiieyyy]

Why am I scared to become the only thing that I imagine myself doing my whole life

[StrongMed]

@john mainprize, I'm sorry YouTube isn't letting me respond directly to your comment... for a high school student, many of my tips are obvious stuff: get good grades, and try to get yourself into a university with a strong reputation (though this is not critical, it is definitely helpful!). Just as important as getting good grades however, is developing strong study skills and work ethic. I went to an extremely easy high school, and although my grades were great, I didn't need to work hard to achieve them. Although, as a high school student, that may sound great right now - it was terrible in the long run. My first semester in college went very poorly, and if my school didn't have mandatory pass-fail classes for freshmen, I might have otherwise tanked my chances to get into med school. So even if you're cruising through school at this point, take the time (while you have it) to learn how to study (i..e. effective studying doesn't involve highlighting textbooks...)

One last suggestion would be to shadow at least 2 physicians - 1 in an outpatient clinic, and 1 in the hospital. It's important to have some idea as early as possible what a doctor's day to day job is currently like; for many, it no longer comes close to what is shown in TV and film.

[OhHeyOlive]

This video was extremely helpful. I will be a freshman in college this year and I have had so many worries about whether I should change from business to bio as my major. Knowing that I still have the option to attend Medical School regardless of my undergraduate degree places a great amount of ease on my stress. I love the fact that you mentioned we should take classes in whatever interests us just in case we don't get into medical. Although it is a pessimistic thought to believe I won't be accepted, it is very calming to just accept the reality for what it is. Thanks so much for making this video :)

[conftw]

First, id like to give you my thanks. So many people are oblivious when it comes to medicine including myself before watching this video, I'm a second year med student (not studying in America) so I'm relatively young and I definitely had an incorrect image of what a doctor is (even though 70% of my family members are doctors) I really appreciate the effort you put in for making this video and I deem the information you presented in this video invaluable, please keep making videos to help people like me learn more about the profession, continue giving advice and making a difference, once again thank you.

[gigimatz]

I honestly like how honest you were. Thank you for the video!

[takashindow]

I'm still thinking about becoming a doctor. I cannot think of another career I would like and have had only medical careers in mind. I have researched the pros and cons of being a doctor and simply cannot decide. I am willing to give my all to become a doctor but I don't want it to break me. Personally I am a nerd but giving up all of my social skills is another thing (big exaggeration but you get the point) All I hear is that people rarely have time for family, friends, and fun because they must always be ready to go back to work. Can someone please explain whether this claim is true or not?

[saba]

I really appreciate that you made this video. It has helped my daughter a lot to clear her mind about her pre-med worries.

[animelover]

i want to become a doctor even more... thank u sir...

[ricardocerdeira]

I'm a freshman at a community school and I found this video so valuable. Thank you for your help and inspiration!

[euijong]

Thank you for being so honest. I think many people sugarcoat the process of becoming a doctor. Becoming a doctor is definitely not easy... and the amount of time and effort that is spent to become one doesn't always yield money. Honestly, that's my biggest concern. I want to have time for my family later in life but I also want to be in the healthcare field. Doctor seems so perfect when I'm working in the hospital but there's the struggle that I don't see under a white coat. I seriously respect doctors even when they are completely rude and "break" some rules to save lives. I always thought we should have a day dedicated to our physicians.

[catherinegrela]

This video was very informative and unbelievably helpful as I continue figuring out my goals for the future. Currently a rising junior in college, my dream career is to be an orthopedic surgeon (though I'm also considering general surgery). I can't see myself doing anything else besides becoming a doctor because of passion for biology, human anatomy and all/most of my other required courses as a Public Health Science and General Biology major, microbiology, genetics, etc. As of lately I've questioned how badly I want this career. I understand the many personal rewards that accompanies it, but I'm afraid it's too demanding for my other life goals, such as traveling, having a family at a considerable age or simply having a social life. None of that seems very plausible with the demands that come along with being a doctor. My issue is, I don't know if any other career can satisfy/stimulate me the way medicine would, which is why I'm contemplating sticking with it anyway. I know I could handle whatever is thrown at me...but would it be worth it?

Eric, if you could please elaborate a bit more on your 10th point..your true thoughts on my situation would be greatly appreciated considering you've already given me so much insight in just a short 19 minute video.

[darkenergylambda]

Couldn't agree more! I stayed with physics got my masters and then got into med school. I feel like as a physicist I can see problems from a different angle and it helps tackle some concepts in medical school.

[jawojnicki]

I'm a 39 year old family medicine board certified osteopathic physician. I want to say that 99.99% of what this vlogger said is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! I had a very different experience than he on my path to becoming a physician, but though I've never met this doctor, I have discovered ALL the same truths that he shares here, independently. I do have 2 caveats to add. I personally would NEVER go into primary care again, nor would I advise anyone to do so - unless you have a very unique situation, like you are going to be a missionary your whole career or you have a parent who's going to hand over their fully established booming practice to you after your residency. Primary Care faces so much competition from PAs and NPs who can be hired to do ALMOST the same outpatient job that pcps do at a fraction of the cost, but they don't suffer nearly the time or financial investment that physicians do. Medical school, for me, was insanely challenging. Residency is grueling and incredibly frustrating. it's just not worth going through all that rigor -to me - to end up spending the lot of your time charting on a computer and a big portion of your patient care time arguing with people who have common colds about why they don't need antibiotics for a viral illness or drug seekers about why you won't refill their 10mg Norco again or why 4mg of xanax a day isn't healthy for them in the long run. I'll mention my other caveat in a separate comment later today.

[earth.love.wisdom]

Wow, thank you for your wisdom. This video has helped me begin the process of eliminating many fears about becoming about training to become doctor, even when I truly feel called to do so.

[codykelly]

This was wicked helpful. Thank you so much sir. Can you please make a video on tips to prepare for the financial burden that comes during the collegiate years when choosing med school. If you could include ways to help reduce the stress thats comes with more years in academia that would be great.

[potaninification]

Thank-you for this, the short twenty minutes you committed to enlightening certain aspect of this upcoming odyssey means a lot.

[Mackandal]

Thank you for spending your valued time and share this important information.
My daughter is going for Biological Sciences this year and wants to become a Neurologist.
I am definitely going to share this video with her.
She needs to take all these 10 points you mentioned into account before making a final decision.

[jedtanchuco]

I have to admit, as I was watching most of the video. I felt doubt again consume my thoughts and questions plague my mind. As a Biology student in the Philippines, there was a lot of surprising things in the video. Some I had an idea of, but ignored because I still wanted to do it the way they told me how. Until tip no. 9, I felt like I had made a mistake in pursuing a premed course. I felt discouraged, but your last tip was my salvation. The allure of academic pursuit dancing with the feeling of saving lives made me smile with excitement. Thank u for the video.

[KBeanPlays]

Thank you so much for this. Your words at the end sagaciously identified the core of my desires to become a physician, answering the question "why medicine?" that I get from time to time. Thank you!