How Smart to You Have to be to Become a Doctor?

All of us wonder this one time or another...how smart to you have to be to be a doctor? I actually think about this every hour of every day, but I am a little obsessive compulsive. Well that question came up in YahooAnswers not too long ago and I thought I would share it with everyone. Apparently answerer 2 thinks that you have to be the Gary Kasparov of math to become a doctor. I especially like answerer 1's suggestion that you can't gag when you see blood. And then there is self deprecating answerer 6 who suggests to our young inquisitor that he pursue a Caribbean medical school and even provides a website address...I think he maybe working for them. One person states that their brother was pretty much a complete idiot in high school and now he is a dentist "making loads of cash." I didn't know having loads of cash was the point of becoming a doctor. I think answerer 3 is by far the most helpful and thoughtful not only in her answer but also by the fact that she left an email address for the young lad to contact her. Yahoo answers will never let you down. Click here to see it for yourself. (All those typos btw are theirs, not mine)

How smart do you have to be to become a doctor and to even get into medical school? like i know you hae to be good in math, so would have to be in challelnge math in highschool for the whole five years???

Answerer 1 I'm not so sure that you have to be a genius or anything. But more of a interest in what a doctor has to do and have a strong passion for it. For example, if you don't like blood and it make you gag I wouldn't go into the medical field. But if you love the idea of being a doctor and are interested but you don't think your smart enough, try as much as possible. Or read books and study up.

Answerer 2
You have to be VERY good in science and math especially
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Hope that helped Good Luck

Answerer 3
Yes, math and science, do well in those it will take you very far.

Math really isn't a big deal, actually. The only math you need to get into medical school is general 2 semesters of college math, usually one statistics and one calculus or similar class. Although it is important to do well in these classes, a B probably isn't a big deal (and statistics really isn't hard at all if you go to class).

You do need to be good at science...biology, chemistry, and physics are all classes you need to take and do well in order to get into medical school, and all three are on the MCAT. The only thing you need to do in highschool is keep your grades up enough to get into a good 4-year university with a good science program. Medical schools don't look at your highschool transcripts, so it really doesn't matter what you take in highschool. That being said, a good solid science background will make your life easier in college.

In college you need to keep about a 3.5 GPA to get into medical school, and you need to get a 30 on the MCATs (out of 45).

If you have any more questions about what you need for medical school, please feel free to email me at goodee_2_sandals@yahoo.com.

Answerer 5
i would do an internship at a doctors office and see what they actually do... or work as a medical assistant to decide if working in that environment is something u'd wanna do for the rest of ur life.
i definetly think that you have to be decent in math and science, nothing spectacular though. Also alot of it is memorization... think of ALL the different body parts and diseases that a doctor must remember and have knowledge of at any given time... having a passion and love for the job certainly helps u memorize

Answerer 6
It's not necessarily smarts... you have to have good discipline, work really hard and be really motivated. I am a 4th year medical student and personally i don't think i am very smart... but i work hard. You can go to medical school out of high school to a 6 year program. The only thing is you have to go abroad. if you want to go to medical school in US you have to do 4 yrs of premed and 4 years of medical school(total 8). If you go to a place like the Caribbean you can be done in 4 years. here is a site to help you... good luck
http://www.bestforeignmedicalschools.com

Answerer 7
math in high school is there to get you prepared for college math. My brother was never a good math student in high school (C's and B's) but he managed to get by. Now he is a dentist making loads of cash. If you really want to go into the medical field then i would try taking some math courses to the side or during summer for summer school. The only way to like math is to understand it, if you don't understand it then you don't know if you like it. But to answer your question furthermore, i would say that you probably have to get into the basics of calculus to become a doctor. This also depends on the college you choose.
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