Explore the Field of Medicine

Considering a Career in Medicine? Questions to Ask Yourself:

Why do I want to go to medical school?
What has influenced this decision? Is it my own or the result of pressure from others?
Have I considered and explored alternative career options?
Have I explored alternative health related careers such as dentistry, public health, bioinformatics, biostatistics, or biomedical engineering?
Have I talked to others currently or recently in medical school and asked them about their experiences?
Have I considered taking time off after college before applying to medical school?
Am I prepared for the medical school lifestyle?
What do I want to do with my degree once I am finished?
When is the best time for me to apply?
Do I like working with people?

Steps to Aid You in Answering the Above Questions:

Make an appointment with a counselor to discuss your interests and options.
Explore the field of healthcare through the following resources and opportunities

Exploration Resources and Opportunities:

Books
Organizations
Web Resources
Informational Interviews
Opportunities:
Research, volunteer work, summer programs, internships
Physician Shadow Program

Books

Complications by Atul Gawande
Compassion's Way: A Doctor's Quest into the Soul of Medicine by Ralph Crawshaw
Death, Society and Human Experience by Robert J. Kastenbaum
First Do No Harm by Lisa Belkin
Human Side of Medicine by Laurence A., MD Savett
Intern Blues: The Timeless Classic of the Making of a Doctor by Robert Marion, MD
Intoxicated by My Illness and Other Writings on Life and Death by Anatole Broyard
Kill as Few Patients as Possible by Oscar London, MD
Learning to Play God: The Coming of Age of a Young Doctor by Robert Marion, MD
White Coat by Ellen Lerner Rothman
A Casebook of Medical Ethics by Terrance F. Ackerman & Carson Strong
The New Medicine and the Old Ethics by Albert R. Jonsen
Toward a More Natural Science: Biology and Human Affairs by Leon Kass, MD
A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years as a Medical Student by Perry Klaus, MD
The Med School Survival Guide by Jennifer Danek M.D.
How to Choose a Medical Specialty by Anita D. Taylor
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver W. Sacks
Letters to a Young Doctor by Richard Selzar, MD
The House of God by Samuel Shem, MD, PhD
Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas, MD

Organizations

American Medical Student Association (AMSA)

MIT's Chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA)

Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

The American Medical Association (AMA)

Gay and Lesbian Medical Association

Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA)

MIT Hippocratic Society

MIT Traditional Medicine Society

BioMatrix

MIT Biology Undergraduate Student Association

MIT Biological Engineering & Biomedical Engineering Society

Web Resources

Explore Health Careers

Student Doctor

AspiringDocs.org

Global Health Education Consortium

World of Rural Medical Education

Informational Interviews

MIT Alumni: ICAN

Networking 101

Opportunities

Research Opportunities

MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

National Institue of Health (NIH)

AAMC List of Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

Volunteer Work

Summer Programs

Summer Program Workshop

MIT List of Health Related Summer Programs

Summer Medical and Dental Education Programs (SMDEP)

AAMC Database of Summer Enrichment Programs

Internships

MIT Career Development Center

Health Career Connection Summer Internship

MIT Physician Shadow Program

Physician shadow opportunities for current MIT students are offered during IAP and spring semester through local area hospitals (Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and the Boston Children's Hospital). Announcements on how to sign-up for a shadow opportunity are sent via e-mail to the prehealth e-mail lists in late November each Fall semester. To sign-up to be on a prehealth e-mail list vist the Preprofessional Advising home page for instructions.

Requirements for participating in the shadow program include meeting MIT's health requirements (immunizations and vaccinations), signing hospital observer agreements and submission of a resume.

Top of page

Last updated on Tuesday, November 17, 09 at 05:07:59 PM EST.

PreProfessional