Path for an aspiring surgeon/doctor?

Question

I'm a sophomore in high school now and I want to become a doctor, preferably a surgeon. I know that the path is long and tough, from college to med school to residency, but I think I can do it as long as I set my mind to it.

Currently, my GPA is 3.79. It's not the greatest, but this is because I didn't try as hard as I could have my freshman year, as I thought B's were fine to get because I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. Now, as a sophomore, I've been maintaining straight A's. I hope my GPA will rise as I get more A's my junior and senior years. I know I should be taking science classes, so I am in honors biology now, will be taking anatomy and honors chemistry next year, and possibly AP Biology my senior year. Any other classes you recommend?

I am about to began volunteering at a local Sentara hospital, but I was also wondering if I should take a class over the summer and become a Certified Nursing Assistant... opinions on that?

After high school, I plan on attending a college with a good pre-med program. I live in Virginia, so my top choices would be:

UVA (if I didn't get accepted right out of high school, I could attend UVA Wise or another community college)
William & Mary
Virginia Tech (I heard it has a pretty good pre-med program)

So, any advice or tips for me? Thank you!

? · Accepted Answer

You sound like you have everything pretty well thought out. All three schools listed are good choices, make sure you have an idea of what grad school you want to go to going into college so you'll have an idea of what classes to take in college.
Your GPA will improve by a considerable amount if you maintain all As and you should have no problem getting into the 3 colleges you listed. 

I suggest AP Chem or an advanced Anatomy class if it's offered at your school. Make sure to do well on the AP exams so you can hopefully bypass some of the intro level science courses once you get into a university

Definitely volunteer at local hospitals, try finding an internship? If anything these things will help you gain information about the field and help you form connections early.
Not sure about the certified nursing assistant, though I can't imagine that it would hurt. CPR/AED/FirstAid/O2 etc. training generally looks good for volunteering and job applications(and it's just good knowledge to have)

Anonymous · Answer

Well when you finish your schooling one make sure you are very healthy and fit. Apply for the Astronaut candidacy program on the NASA website and go for testing if you are the 7 out of the 3000+ applicant picked you will be flown to Houston Texas for training and from there it is a matter of time until you are put in space.

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Path for an aspiring surgeon/doctor?

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