Baby Steps (Part 2)

Besides grades, test scores, and student organizations, it is important to give back to the community. Medical schools love to see a student that volunteers their time consistently to a variety of causes. Do not just volunteer once or twice at each place. It is important to show commitment and determination for at least one specific cause; therefore, make sure you find a cause you are passionate about and that you are consistently volunteering. Volunteering shows medical schools that you are, for a lack of a better term, a human. That you care for other people and that you are compassionate and willing to put in the time to help.
Click here for volunteer or internship opportunities near you.

Furthermore, aside from GPA and MCAT, shadowing is the most important of the extracurricular activities you have to do as an undergraduate. Medical schools like to see as many hours of shadowing as possible, even if it interferes with how many hours you do volunteer work. This is because shadowing gives you hands-on experience in the field and it teaches you what life is really like as a pediatrician, beyond the books. On the other hand, it is also very important to shadow because it will either make it or break it for you. When you shadow, you will realize whether you absolutely love the job or if you would rather try something else.

If you would like to know what a competitive MCAT score would be for your medical school of choice, visit: http://www.mcattestscores.com/usmedicalschoolsmcatscoresGPA.html

Baby Steps (Part 1)

As an undergraduate student there are a lot of things to keep in mind. First of all, you do not have four years to prepare. In three years you need to be applying for medical school and taking your admission tests. It is very important to set yourself apart from everyone else that will be applying to medical school. So here is what you need to do:

Make sure you join medical student organizations and that you are an active member. It would be best if you could achieve some kind of official position in the organization, such as treasurer, secretary, vice president, president, etc. However, it is important to show medical schools that you are well rounded. As a result, join and participate in as many clubs as you can, regardless of what they are, dancing, sports, art, singing, even basket-weaving clubs. These clubs are what is going to give medical schools a sense of who you are, what you're capable of, how determined you are to pursue your passion, and it will set you apart from other applicants because only 43% of applicants are admitted.

One of the most important things is your overall and science GPAs. In 2012, the national overall GPA for matriculants was 3.67 and science GPA was 3.61. The next most important thing to keep in mind is the MCAT! This is the admission test required to get into medical school. It is offered 28 times a year and should be taken in your junior year before you apply.

To learn more about the medical school coursework and GPA requirements, go to:
http://www.studentdoc.com/medical-school-requirements.html

Controversy with Genetic Sequencing

Just like with any great discovery, with genetic sequencing arose controversy. Who should stand between you and the right to see information about your own genetic code? The controversy about this shotgun sequencing strategy is if it should be used to create a personal genome scan and sold to the public. On one side, people are arguing that people being able to see their own DNA sequence is a basic civil rights. Also, this kind of DNA testing would greatly benefit health care financially.

Four million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, costing the health care system a staggering $500 billion a year. In the future, this shotgun-sequencing strategy will become widely used to sequence patients’ DNA and every medicine made will be personalized to target each patient’s disease. The purveyors of personal genomics insist that genomic medicine will become an integral part of modern health care. On the other hand, people against it say that patients are going to overreact if they get their genome sequenced. For example, a woman may see that she has the gene for breast cancer, which does not mean she will ever get breast cancer, and may want to get unnecessary surgery.

Click here if you would like to know more about the controversy.


What do you think?

Trend in Medicine

Many of you may be familiar with DNA sequencing and the Human Genome Project. For those of you who are not, the Human Genome Project is a project that setout to map the entire human genome in 1990. For over a decade, scientists raced to figure out the order of the nucleotides (DNA building blocks) in our genetic code and to claim the ultimate human blueprint. The human genome was officially declared complete in February 2001.

Once that race was over, a new race began to figure out which was the most efficient way to sequence DNA. Today, the method being used is Shotgun sequencing. As a result, what used to cost millions of dollars for people to get their genome sequenced, it now only costs about a thousand dollars due to this method.

The application of this new trend is personalized medicine. So what scientists are doing is they are sequencing a person's genome to figure out where in the genome there is a mutation or change that is causing the genetic disease or whatever illness the patients have. By doing so, they are capable of creating a medication that is meant to fix what that patient specifically has, instead of making medicine for a large portion of the population and going through a trial and error method. With this trend taking place, it is expected that in the future this will be more economical and that people will be able to get personalized medication to cure their illnesses.




To learn more about shotgun sequencing, go to: http://www.cybertory.org/exercises/seq1_shotgun/index.html

Beliefs and Values

In terms of believing, pediatricians have the drive to help children. People go through the long years of education to become pediatricians because they are focused and determined to help every child remain healthy or get better when they become sick. In addition, pediatricians go into this profession with the intention of contributing to the improvement of the medical field in regard to efficient diagnoses and treatments. Furthermore, every pediatrician has the goal of not only curing the sick, but also caring for the patients that cannot be cured, as well as preventing disease.

In terms of valuing, even though there are no uniform laws about patient privacy, a pediatrician values protecting confidentiality of medical records because it is an important aspect of the patient-doctor relationship. Also, a pediatrician greatly values the atmosphere in which he works. For example, since there are kids always coming in and out of the office, a good pediatrician values that every employee has a smile on their face and is kid friendly so that the children have a good experience and feel comfortable. Furthermore, due to his goal to improve the medical field, a pediatrician values accurate diagnoses of the patients as well as accurate medical records.

For an insight into the pediatric community, visit:
http://www.aap.org/

Random Statistics

•  In 2004, pediatricians earned an average of $175,000 before taxes.
• Most pediatricians are over thirty years old because of the long years of education (usually 11 years).
• Not many pediatricians are over the age of sixty, since they can comfortably retire by then.
• In 2006, the proportion of women and men in both applications and entrants [to medical school] was about 56% women and 44% men. Why do you think that is? As a result, there are now more women doctors than men.
• Only 43% of applicants get admitted into medical school.
• 60 hour or longer work weeks are common for doctors.
• The average tuition and fees for 2009 entering students at a state medical school was around $40,000.
• At least 90% of allopathic medical students graduate with debt-owing an average of more than $142,000.

What Is it Like to Be in Their Shoes for a Day?

Pediatricians begin their day by going to the hospitals to check with nurses for updates and to look at charts to analyze his patients’ progress. Then, they head back to their office and see an average of forty patients per day. Unlike other doctors, pediatricians confer with the parents of the patients, because most are underage, about the treatment he is recommending or to let them know when they should bring the child back for a follow-up consultation.

Sixty hour or longer work weeks are common for pediatricians; therefore, they do not have much time for leisure activities. Besides, on their free time, pediatricians are often reading articles and books to stay up to date with medical and technological advances. As a result, it is not uncommon for a pediatrician to not be married or not have kids, especially a woman pediatrician.

For a more indepth job description, go to:
http://www.healthcaresalaryonline.com/pediatrician-job-description.html

Forever a Student

 

To become a pediatrician, you have to go through a lot of school:

• Four years of undergraduate school
• Four years of medical school
• At least 3 years of residency

 

However,

 

Once you become a pediatrician, education does not stop. First of all, it is necessary to attend annual conventions to keep up with any updates on ethical situations. Furthermore, you need to keep up with your reading so you can stay updated in the latest medical breakthroughs, illnesses or diseases, and techniques. Finally, as we all know, technology basically improves overnight. As a result, you need to stay updated with what the new technology does and how to use it.

 

Boring Part of the Job

So, I hate to break it to you if you did not already know, but pediatricians don't just diagnose children, treat them, cure them, and go home. They also have to deal with the boring part of the job, PAPERWORK. Pediatricians not only have to deal with writing several prescriptions on a daily basis, but they also have to keep records and fill out forms. For example, remember going to the pediatrician and him telling you that your height and weight look perfect? or that you're a bit over or under the deal weight for your height? Well, pediatricians need to keep track of a weight and height chart to see where you need to be in correlation to your age.

Also, if you ever played a sport in school, then you know what a blue and yellow form is. These forms are basically a way for your doctor to tell your school that you're healthy enough to play a sport. Just another way for the school to cover themselves if something happens to you, of course. Finally, in order to even be in school, you know you need to have proof that you have gotten certain shots. A pediatrician has to keep track of your vaccines as well as any other relevant information to your medical history. So that sums up the boring aspect of a pediatrician's daily routine.

 

 

 

Reality Check!

Becoming a doctor is already hard, but once you are already one, it doesn't get any easier. Pediatrics is not one of those careers you can go into thinking it'll be great moneywise, you can go on great vacations, and not have anything to worry about. The reason why pediatricians get paid well is because of how much they work. Also, if you do not absolutely love kids, or better yet, if you do not like them, please do everyone a favor and do not become a pediatrician just because your parents are telling you to or because of the money. 

Pediatricians are always on call, they have to see around 40 patients per day, they have paper work to fill out, they have to go to hospitals to check on the patients they have checked in there, they have to attend conventions, they have to deal with crazy parents, and they have to constantly be reading and studying to keep their education up to date with technological and medical advances. So if you do not absolutely believe that you are getting into this field because it is something that you want to do and because it will make you happy, please try something else. Because this job takes PASSION!

Take a Deep Breath!

Setting out to become a doctor as an undergraduate student can be very overwhelming. Right from the start you are told that getting into med school is basically impossible and that roughly only 43% of applicants are accepted. Then, everyone starts freaking you out with the fact that you have to do volunteering, shadowing, research, community service, internships, leadership positions in a medical organization, etc.

Everything about becoming a doctor is overwhelming. However, you have to keep in mind that if you are already stressing out during your undergraduate years, you won't make it through the deadly years in med school. So just take it one day at a time and take a deep breath!