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Succeeding in the medical field is extremely difficult. It is not meant for everyone, but with the right guidance, schooling and support, anything in the medical field is very possible. The medical field has many different career options ranging from internal medicine to emergency services so you are destined to find something in this field that will interest you and also be a good fit. For a student to become a professional in the medical field they must undergo very rigorous schooling, deal with a tremendous amount of stress, and many hours of on the job experience.

When it comes to a student’s success in the medical field, it is absolutely paramount that they maintain a pristine GPA.  There are many reasons a student must sustain a high GPA in their studies. The first being that getting accepted into a graduate school after completing an undergraduate study is mostly determined by a student's GPA.  Scoring well on the MCAT is also very important; yet, maintaining a GPA of 3.7 and higher for 4 years is very challenging considering all of the pre-med required courses including: Microbiology, Biology, and multiple Organic Chemistry classes. Another important reason to maintain a high GPA is so that they can succeed in medical school and not just sneak by and graduate (for more information reference Challenges of a Pre-Med Student). Medical school is extremely expensive and should not be completed carelessly.  If a doctor wants to be successful in their medical practice after schooling they must make sure to learn as much as possible and graduate with honors.  Students must hone and perfect their skills in medical school so they can help patients to the best of their ability.  All in all, it is of the utmost importance for pre-med students to maintain a high GPA in their studies so that they can get accepted into medical school and succeed in their career after graduation.

In addition to maintaining a high GPA, the Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT for short, is very important in terms of a student’s success in the medical field. The MCAT is the required test for students trying to get accepted into a medical school. The test is based off of four categories and takes up to seven hours to complete (for more information look here, The Dreaded MCAT). The scoring is on a range from 472 to 528, with a medium of 500. It is essential to score high on this test because a student will not be accepted into medical school if they do not perform well. Therefore, they would not be successful in the medical field. This test requires an enormous amount of studying and will put a substantial amount of stress on the student.

MCAT Score	Estimated Acceptance Rate
492-495	4.9%
496-499	12.1%
500-503	23.7%
504-507	38.9%
508-511	56.9%
512-515	70.8%
516-519	79.3%
520- 528	85.5%

Well it is excellent to have a high GPA and MCAT score, this isn’t enough to get into medical school. Many applicants have a high GPA and a decent MCAT score but the challenge is standing out from these thousands of applicants. This is when the extracurriculars come in handy to help one stand out. These extracurriculars include involvement in an internship, volunteer work, job shadow, research and clubs/organizations (for more on internships, check out Internships). Participating in as many of these as possible throughout the four years as a pre med student is the best way to increase the likelihood of getting into medical school. These experiences allow medical schools to see that the applicant knows and experienced what the life and job of a physician is like and is up for the challenge; medical schools don’t just rely on grades and test scores. It also shows that the applicant is thoughtful, hardworking, determined, and social which are necessary qualities to possess in order to become a doctor.

Three interns listening in to physicians’ discussion

While working in the medical field you encounter an extreme amount of stress and dealing with making hard decisions. While working you are expected to be working many hours and during working those hours you do and see many different things that could stress you out or lead to making difficult decisions. Making decisions in the medical realm is one of the hardest things you’ll have to deal with; you have to think of what could come from each decision you make and how it could affect the patient or the patient’s family (the whole article can be found here What To Expect In Emergency Medicine).The stress coming from all of these things are tremendous.

Many different things factor into getting into medical school and becoming a professional in the medical field. It takes extreme dedication and mental toughness to go through long hours of studying, and rigorous classes that truly challenge you and your ability to perform. In the end, the success attained and lives helped throughout the whole process is extremely rewarding, not only in terms of income but also self-satisfaction that you can make a difference in someone’s life.