by Doyeun Park
If you are a high school student who wants to pursue a career in medicine, you are probably thinking: “am I able to handle the rigorous curriculum and manage my time?”. Unequivocally, medical school is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, so it’s a great choice to gain experience within the field before you actually enter it. Although there are limited opportunities for high school students to be involved in the medical field, there are a number of ways that high school students can get a closer look. In this article, we will go over the different ways that high school students can get involved in the medical field and the pros and cons of each option.
First, volunteering at a hospital is one of the easiest and most popular options to get involved in the medical field. Although students wouldn’t be able to treat patients, they would be able to do some paperwork, run errands, handle customer service, deliver goods, etc. To get started, you have to find a local hospital and contact them or fill out an application on their website. Then, wait for them to contact you. Volunteers should be flexible and selfless. Although some volunteer work may not be as fun as doing actual medical procedures, volunteers should be able to rise to the occasion and adopt any duties assigned to them. There are some pros and cons when volunteering at a hospital.
Pros:
Helps you solidify or reconsider working in the medical field.
Get a closer look at what doctors do.
Looks good on college applications.
Meet new people.
Free.
Cons:
Some hospitals may not allow high school students to volunteer.
Won’t be able to do any medical procedures.
Might interfere with school.
Another course of action is to apply for a research or internship program. Many institutions, a few being: the University of Chicago, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and the University of Miami, offer these types of programs. Instead of focusing on medicine, some of these programs allow you to interact with different scientific fields such as biology, chemistry, or physics. These programs usually take place during the summer so that they won’t interfere with school schedules. These programs allow you to work with many scientists and, perhaps, medical professionals. In the end, you would share your findings with other people. Similar to volunteering, there are some pros and cons to this activity.
Pros:
Hands-on approach.
Work with many scientists and medical professionals.
Have insight into different scientific and medical fields.
Meet new people.
Cons:
Can be competitive.
Sometimes the tuition is costly.
Some of these programs don’t provide housing.
Similar to the previous activity, summer medical programs are also an option for pre-med high school students. Unlike research or internship programs, these summer medical programs are more medicine-centric. Students would be able to meet medical school professors or students, participate in a simulation lab, learn medical procedures and examinations, etc. These types of programs are also offered in many institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard University, and more. Now, let’s take a look at the benefits and disadvantages.
Pros:
Hands-on experience.
Early exposure to the medical field.
Work with medical professionals.
Doesn’t interfere with school schedules.
Meet new people.
Cons:
Some programs can be expensive.
Might need to travel to a different state or country.
Lastly, job shadowing is one of the most popular ways that high school students can get involved. Job shadowing allows students to follow a certain doctor throughout a day to several days. You would be able to observe what doctors do in a day’s work and personally ask questions. To get started, you can ask a local hospital or a local doctor for permission to shadow. Once you set the date and time, you should take notes and ask questions. Now, let’s take a look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
One-on-one interaction with the doctor.
Get a closer look at what doctors do.
Create a connection with the doctor.
Free.
Cons:
Might be difficult to contact the doctors.
In conclusion, volunteering at a hospital, participating in research/internship programs or summer medical programs, and job shadowing are many great and effective ways to receive exposure to the medical field. If none of these programs are offered in your state or nearby, you can still participate in school clubs or take science courses to gain some experience and knowledge. It is never too early to start.
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