I’m excited for you! It is a very exciting and rewarding field.

First, a quick
overview of the process:

Bachelor’s degree (4 years)

Medical school (4 years)

Residency (4 years)

So as long as you stay on-track, you’re looking at a 12 year process to become an

ob/gyn after you graduate from high school.

Right now you should be taking all of your basic science classes: biology, physics,
chemistry and psychology (the new MCAT has a psychology section, so don’t ignore
it). You’ll also need to take calculus at the college level. If you can take AP
classes it’s even better because when you start college you will be in more
advanced classes and by the time you graduate from undergrad you will be ahead of
your peers that had to start with 100 level classes. You should also look for
opportunities to volunteer at your local hospital.

You should be mapping out the college classes and experiences that you will need to
get into medical school. In college you will want to work as a CNA or a similar
position in which you actually get hands-on patient experience. You’ll also need to
shadow physicians before applying to medical school. This isn’t just a hoop to jump
through. Make sure that you REALLY understand what it is like to be a physician and
that this is definitely the path you want to take. You may find that other
healthcare fields are a better fit for you, so also talk to nurses (including
Certified Nurse Midwives), pharmacists, PAs, physical therapists, and occupational
therapists; and look into the education requirements and job prospects for each of
these fields. Be open to the idea that you may be a better fit for one of these
careers. On TV the doctors do every aspect of patient care, but this is not
reality. Please don’t base your life plans off of what being a doctor looks like on
TV. Look at what elements of being an ob/gyn most appeal to you and see which
profession will offer you the most of those experiences.

Please also consider the quality-of-life associated with each profession. The the
mental and physical demands of being a physician will be a significant burden,
particularly in this field. You will work at least 24 hours in a single shift and
easily 80 hours in a week. You will work weekends and holidays.

Let’s assume that you do all of these things and find that yes, medical school is
definitely the path you want to take. Look at the required prerequisites for
medical schools and talk to your college advisor to make sure that you are on
track. You’ll need to get very good grades. A GPA of 3.7 is considered low when
applying to medical school. It’s not impossible to get in with a 3.7, but it will
be a strike against you. You will not be a partier in college. You will throw
yourself into your school work and your healthcare experiences.

From your first day of college, start thinking about who you will ask for letters
of recommendation. Professors are a good option, but you’ll need at least one
physician to recommend you—you’ll get this from your shadow experiences. Always try
to make a good impression. Be polite, punctual, and inquisitive. Try to get a
teaching assistant and/or lab assistant position in your junior year of college.

You’ll want to take the MCAT toward the end of your Junior year. Plan to spend at
least a year studying for it. Your MCAT score will directly affect your ability to
get into medical school.

Ok, so let’s say you’ve done everything right and you’ve been accepted to medical
school. Yay! You are still not guaranteed to become an ob/gyn. In your senior year
of medical school you will go through the “match” process in which residency
programs list their top candidates and medical students list their top residence
programs. Not every student gets their top choice or even their preferred
specialty. When you are “matched” you have very little recourse if you don’t like
the residency program you’re assigned to. If you refuse to take it, you may end up
without a residency at all which is a terrible place to be.

Through the course of your clinicals you may even decide that you’d rather be a
pediatrician or an anesthesiologist. In any event, until you match to an ob/gyn
residency program you must accept the possibility that you may end up in a
different field.