I want to become a doctor

[learnmedicine]

Hi

I'm a high school student in NZ and I would like to become a doctor and I thought this would be the best place. Does anyone know any way in which I can get ahead by learning as much as I can?

[JERI]

Hello:

Personally I'd say to take up biology. The type of learning required in biology would be similar to what you need when it comes to medical studies. Talk to your school so you can plan the subjects you're gonna take.

Are you only gonna apply to NZ med schools? There are only two options in NZ, so you might wanna consider Australia as well.

If you're applying to NZ schools, they both require you to take one year of uni before being considered an entry into med. If you plan to apply to Australian universities though, you will need to look at your subject choices a bit more. Most of the med schools in Oz are only concerned with your performance, your UMAT score, and your interview. So you wanna consider taking subjects you're confident with to ensure you get better grades. A selection of Oz med schools require that you have done certain subjects in secondary schools, you'll have to look into that.

Do you happen to know anyone who's doing med, or who's preparing to apply to med this year? They ought to be helpful.

[learnmedicine]

Thank you for your help.

I will probabily apply to Australian med schools as well as NZ. Apart from biology what in your opinion do you think I should take in 6 form and 7 form?

[JERI]

You'll have to look into your strength/weaknesses.

You probably have a good idea which subjects you're strong with already, you can try out some other subjects you're not sure about with your 12th year.

I personally reckon that, for your final year in college, you wanna do subjects that you'll be most confident in. Your yr13 results might not be as important for NZ universities, but they will play a significant part for your entry into Australian med schools.

I'd recommend biology as one of your subjects, but realise it's one of the harder ones, requiring a lot of memorisation. I heard that yr13 classics is a really easy subject, a lot of my peers seem to have done that just to pull up their grades. Statistics is the easier Maths subject.
Chemistry + physics are pretty challenging, but if doing those at yr13 will greatly assist your compulsory first year in NZ uni.

Keep in mind though, I did university bursary for my final year and I have no experience with NCEA, I don't know how much the curriculum has changed in the last four years. Once again I'd urge you to talk with your teachers about your subject choices.

[learnmedicine]

Thanks everyone for your support

My options in year 11 are: Maths, Science, English, Geography, History and Level 2 Chemistry

Next year my options are: Maths, English, Biology, Physics and Level 3 chemistry

What subjects (in your opinion) should I take in year 13?

[stilllearning]

im in kinda the same position, im in yr 11 at the moment ( in nz ) and currently deciding on subjects for next year. obviously i know that english and the three sciences are important for me to take.. is there any way of not doing physics?? how necessary is it?? and for year 13 what maths is best calculus or statistics?
id appreciate anyones help!!