What kind of things could I do to prepare me to become a surgeon in high school?

Take the bio courses and see how dexterous you are when that frog and scalpel appear on your lab tray. Math, physics and chemistry too…AP courses if they are offered.

Anatomy and physiology, math(geometry) and chemistry.

Most HS’s do not offer anatomy and physiology.

@gailcalled I’m taking anatomy and physiology. I’m a junior in high school.
@dembboyz56 If they offer it in your school, take it!

@cyndihugs; Must be an exception school. You are lucky.

See if any of the colleges in your state or area have summer programs for high school kids. If you are willing/able to go farther away from home, you may find some good programs by googling. Don’t be afraid to ask the programs about how to apply for financial aid, if necessary.

@gailcalled why physics?

@cyndihugs: Behavior of blood pressure, fractures, muscles, ligaments, tendons, etc.

Source

The “pre-med” classes required by virtually all schools in the US are as follows:

A year of Freshman Chemistry along with the appropriate laboratory courses
A year of Organic Chemistry along with laboratory courses
A year of Biology along with laboratory courses
A year of Physics along with laboratory courses
A year of English
A year of Calculus or other advanced math classes, including Statistics

Our high school also offers Anatomy and Physiology as well as Biology 2, so it can’t be that unusual.

Pre-med programs like it if you have taken Physics. In our district, if you take the right courses, including Chemistry, Biology 1, Physics, and one other Science, as well as Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calculus and Calculus (if your school offers it), and get the right grades, you get a special “distinguished” diploma, which never hurts your chances of getting into a good pre-med program.

My daughter also wants to be a surgeon, so she has concentrated on taking as much math and science as she can, getting high grades, and carrying a full load of diverse outside activities, including sports, and very importantly, volunteer work in a hospital and in a vet office. The last is vital if you want to show future programs that you know what working in a hospital with patients is like and that you enjoy that work.

The medical volunteer work also puts you in touch with doctors who get to know you well enough that they can serve as references for you.

Shadow a surgeon, talk to surgeons. I was 100% set on being a veterinarian until I discovered it wasn’t really what I thought it was. Talk to med students.

@gailcalled Fuck! Another year of science for me and I was only going to take 3/6 classes! Now is 4/6 :(

@cyndihugs: These are the college course requirements, remember. Take some art and music next year. Organic chemistry isn’t going anywhere.

@gailcalled What? “Organic chemistry isn’t going anywhere?” Oh, really?

@shilolo: Too depressing. Chemistry was the one course I took that I really hated.

If you play video games, concentrate on the ones requiring the most manual dexterity.

Studies have shown that surgeons with the highest success rates (especially those using the new robotic systems) were the ones who played the most video games when they were younger.

Obviously don’t neglect your studies to do this, but with surgery going increasingly in the direction of laproscopic with these robotic systems this skill will be more in demand as time goes by.

@gailcalled Even the crappy high school where I’m from has anatomy.

I don’t think you can become a surgeon in high school no matter how much you prepare.

However if you want to become a surgeon in about 15 years you might look into AP classes in science. If your school does not have those classes you should apply to take college classes your Sr year that are often offered to GATE students. If your school doesn’t have that program, contact the College Board program and find AP programs on line and they will set you up to take the exams in May

A friend of mine is a surgeon, and he regrets that his class scheduling didn’t allow him to take more chemistry, because he enjoyed it. He was one of those people who aced organic chemistry because he could visualize and understand what the atoms were doing and why.

Take the hardest classes you can. Better to get a B in an honors science class than an A in a fluff course. Get into the best college you can manage, major in something that isn’t pre-med, and work your ass off when you’re there, while fulfilling the med school requirements. Med schools don’t want science zombies; they want well-rounded people. Also look for opportunities to get involved in medicine: first aid certification, work as an EMT, work as a volunteer nursing assistant.

(The aforementioned friend went to a private Catholic high school where he graduated in the top 10% of his class, then went to UMass-Amherst, because he had a complicated legacy/inheritance situation, but graduated with a double major in math and economics in four years with a 4.0 GPA, then continued his 4.0 while he worked as an EMT and later as a paramedic and took the med school prerequisites.)

The two things my friend rants about most: patients are people and have to be treated humanely, and most doctors don’t get it; and the lowest-ranking person in the class, the one who’s demonstrated his stupidity throughout medical school, still gets to be called “Doctor.”

One other piece of advice. Being a surgeon is not for the faint of heart. Most surgeons work crazy hours owing to early starts and middle of the night emergencies. Moreover, the length of time required for medical training is severe (4+ years of college, 4+ years of medical school, 5–7 years of specialty training for surgery = 13 years minimum). By the time you are done, you’re middle aged, with a family (likely) and an alternate view of what “matters” such as having a normal lifestyle. As long as you have a clear understanding of the training and lifestyle, by all means, go for it.

Or, if you crave the stylish outfit, ^^ go into research.