Questions about Medical School and Doctors?

[iomar]

So I want to be a doctor but I have a few questions. Let's first start out with College I always hear that you should just major in anything that interests you and make sure you take all the pre-reqs but what major would give you the best possible chance of being accepted into a medical school? Also I was thinking about what College and I live in Michigan so I was going to (hopefully) go to University of Michigan for my Bachelors and Medical School but I saw someone that said since it was in such a rural area that if you wanted the most experience and diversity to go to a College in a bigger city I was wondering if that was true. Also what is the BEST Medical School Michigan or states close to it if there isn't a good one in Michigan. Now onto Medical School what will it be like? How will the classes go and everything. Also how much will my whole College and Medical school experience cost me and how much debt will I be in? Now on to when I graduate I know you have to do a Internship and Residency and some specialties do Fellowships I was wondering what specialties have to do fellowships. Also I have always wanted to work in a hospital my whole life and besides Emergency Room doctors are any doctors actually employed by the hospital. Also are there any doctors that diagnose people kind of like a diagnostian I heard that Internal Medicine was kind of like that but I am not sure. Also do doctors employed by hospitals have to have malpractice insurance? Also how much does that cost yearly? And I don't really care how much I make as long as I can live comfortably and not live paycheck to paycheck but how much do doctors actually make after mal-practice? I think that covers some of my questions thanks to anyone who answers.

[anson34]

You can major in anything during your pre-med courses. I've heard of people majoring in english and still getting into med school. And if you do something like that then it might even increase your chances because it shows you're involved/interested in other subjects as well.
I don't the answer to any of the questions about Michigan schools. I live in Vermont.
Internal Medicine is the diagnosis and prevention of illnesses without surgery. I think it sounds pretty cool. I'm a senior in high school right now and I plan on majoring in psych while doing pre-med. I'm pretty sure I wanna be a psychologist, but I've also considered being a doctor and oddly enough, if I was go that route, my intentions would be to do internal medicine as well. I think if you work at a hospital the malpractice insurance is covered by them, but I'm not sure. It might depend on the state, what you specialize in, etc.
Hope I helped :)

[jarl]

I majored in math and had no trouble getting into medical school. But there were schools that wanted only students who had a standard "pre-med" undergraduate background so you should check with the med school that interests you and it may help to speak to your counselor.

I would definitley recommend taking a course in English so you can learn to write - sentence, paragraph, the like.

If you were to hand in some sort of statement in the unorganized way you posed your question, it would not be good for you.

[jasper]

You are getting way ahead of yourself. U of M has an excellent reputation for both pre-med and medical school. There may be a few others that are more highly rated, but the difference has to be minimal. Actually, you won't need to focus on medical school choice until after your second, even third year of pre-med. Most medical school admissions committees look for students who are well founded in the basic sciences, but also who have a somewhat rounded education, not too narrowly focused.

Once in medical school, your previous aspirations may change, so don't get too involved in envisioning problems that may never occur. Good luck.

[eddis]

Major: Major doesn't matter. NO major is going to give you an advantage. What hair color will give you an advantage? What brand of toothpaste? Those don't matter either. Doesn't matter means it doesn't matter.

All US medical schools are good. It doesn't matter which you go to, you'll still end up as a doctor.

Med school: 2 yrs of classroom learning. Mine was about 8-4, 5 days a week, if I recall. No choice of classes. The whole class took the same thing at the same time. Then there is 2 years of clinical work, which is rotating through various specialties and learning how to be a doctor, now that you have the 2 yrs of book work done. There are lectures, and rounds, and lots of scut work, but you also learn some of the skills you'll need, as well as the process of differential diagnosis, ruling out diagnoses, confirming diagnoses, ordering and interpreting tests, and how to treat. Those 2 years are when you start taking call. S**t runs downhill, and med students are at the bottom of the hill, so expect to be treated like crap.

Fellowships are for subspecialization. Many of the internal medicine subspecialties require fellowships: cardiology, pulmonology, heme/onc, gastroenterology, and so on. Some surgical subspecialties do as well, like pediatric surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and trauma surg.

"Diagnostician" - quit watching House, it's crap and not anything like reality. ALL DOCTORS ARE DIAGNOSTICIANS. IT'S WHAT WE DO. WE DIAGNOSE.

Hospital employed physicians: Some pathologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists, and hospitalists. Sometimes they wok for private groups and contract with the hospital. Of course hospital employed docs have malpractice insurance. The cost is different for each physician, but if you are employed by the hospital, the hospital should pay that as part of your compensation.

Every doctor's income is different. Mine is different every month, every year. It depends on what cases I do, what insurances the patients have, and what my expenses are. We don't go hungry. Those that live paycheck to paycheck are not spending responsibly.

[greenly]

I would definitley recommend taking a course in English so you can learn to write.

[romavia]

Medical is a good field to adopt but, after entering myself in the field of law, I came to know that how much important "THE LAW" is in our daily life as well as in our basics of schooling. I am trying to deliver my idea to everyone now a day that if, we want to save our new generation from such disastrous crimes, then we should provide them Law as a major subject in schooling.