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Yayoi
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16 Jan 2014, 6:53 am

I'm about to start my final year of high school, and don't have a lot of time to choose a degree. I want something that'll look good on an application for postgrad medicine, since my ultimate goal is to become a doctor of some sort, but I'm worried I'd struggle since the sciences aren't my strongest point. My strength is the Japanese language, but I really don't want to major in that since my interest has really dropped as employment opportunities for people with Japanese as their only strength are limited and I'd rather not be in Japan as they don't believe in support for people with social issues.

I'm not sure if I should study something that counts towards my ambitions, something that I'm good at or a combination of the two. Both options seem like absolute hell for different reasons, and I'm starting to think I should just give up on the whole degree idea and get some sort of training instead despite the fact that I want a degree and my family would also be very disappointed if I didn't get one...



thewhitrbbit
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16 Jan 2014, 11:23 am

Pretty sure if you want to be a doctor, you need to major in pre-medicine. That said, if the sciences aren't your strongest point, are you sure doctor is the right career for you? Being a doctor is nothing but science.

If your goal is to be a doctor, you need to follow the course of study that is required for admission to medical school.



StatsNerd
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16 Jan 2014, 2:03 pm

You don't absolutely need to major in pre-med in Undergrad, but you'd almost certainly need to major in a science (Bio, Chem, etc.). Furthermore, you need science skills to go through med school.

Not saying a degree is out of the question, but a med degree would take a lot of extra work for someone whose strengths are not in science.



Yayoi
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16 Jan 2014, 6:13 pm

I am good at science and am trying to get better at it; it's just that languages are my strongest point no matter how much I'm trying to avoid being stuck with them. These replies just seem to scream, "your skills are your skills, you can't change what you're good at" when I'm trying so hard to become good at the sciences as a way to make up for my dislike of my ability in languages.



Solvejg
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16 Jan 2014, 8:02 pm

i would suggest going med and taking japanese as an elective. we always need multilingual doctors.

if not sure then undergrad science-premed and language diploma on the side


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thewhitrbbit
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16 Jan 2014, 11:36 pm

Quote:
"your skills are your skills, you can't change what you're good at"


I was more suggesting that you should embrace the skills you have. All too often I see people not embracing their own natural talents, and being miserable.



Yayoi
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17 Jan 2014, 12:00 am

Solvejg wrote:
i would suggest going med and taking japanese as an elective. we always need multilingual doctors.

if not sure then undergrad science-premed and language diploma on the side


The problem is that I'm absolutely tired of Japan and Japanese and want nothing to do with it in my career. I'd much rather pick up Mandarin as a language, since it's much more useful and I've been kind of drawn to China lately. Also Korean, because I'm very interested in South Korea, but Japan is boring to me.

I have information technology as a backup, as computers are a huge skill of mine and I was thinking of going into software design or tech support. I'm aware medicine is hard to get into, but I'm desperate for science to overtake languages as my main skill.



voodoojoey
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18 Jan 2014, 8:18 pm

Just find what you truly love, and you will be able to put in the effort to be really good at it like you are with languages.



Billw1628
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03 Feb 2014, 9:27 pm

An outside the box idea- have you ever think of doing occupational therapy? There still is a good bit of science. However, once you get to the nitty gritty, then you will realize a lot of what you learn is actually common sense. I actually have learned how to manage a lot of my autism related symptoms because I studied this field. That said, it's a very socially demanding profession (which is also similar for a doctor).

Anyway, good luck in finding a field that matches up with your skills and passion.