What are the steps to take to be a plastic surgeon?

1. Volunteer in biomedical settings, and also be sure to shadow physicians in a variety of specialties. Show a pattern of wanting to help people.

2. Go to college and take the appropriate pre-medical coursework (2 semesters biology, 2 semesters chemistry, 2 semesters o-chem, 2 semesters physics) while earning a degree in whatever you like. Keep your science (BCPM) GPA and OGPA both above 3.0, and preferably above 3.5 so you can be “above average” among applicants.

3. Take the MCAT between your 3rd and 4th year of college, scoring a 24+ if you want to go to a mainstream college in the US, 30+ if you want to be competitive at good schools, and 34+ if you want to really have some choices.

4. Apply to medical schools and get in…

5. Do great work in medical school so that you can score a good residency.

6. Residency…

7. Congrats! You’ve finally made it.

Time:

College (4 years +/-), Med School (4 years), Residency (varies, but at least 2 years, may range to 5 or so depending on exactly what you want to do).

Schools:

Too many good ones to list here. Sorry… just look around.

More Info:

Visit the AMCAS website: http://www.aamc.org – This is the application service for people applying to med school, and a great resource overall, including helping you look for schools.

Good luck!

*4 years of undergrad

*4 years of med school

*5 years of General Surgery residency

*3 years of Plastic Surgery

*1-2 years of specialty training within Plastic surgery

For the first few decades that Plastic Surgery was recognized as a specialty, the president of the board practiced at Johns Hopkins Hospital, so by default, Johns Hopkins was considered the mecca of plastic surgery. But in reality, all of the plastic surgery residencies are excellent programs–and everybody has to pass the same board exams. If you want to research the different schools, I’ve given you the link to FREIDA–the AMA’s database for researching residency programs.

If you want to learn more about medical schools in general, Google the Association of American Medical Colleges. It has answers for most of the questions potential med students have.