If you love the idea of working in the medical field and love dealing with the newest and coolest techniques and yet dont want to deal with being on call 24 hours a day then being a radiologist is a perfect option for you. A radiologist is is a type of physician specializing in interpreting and diagnosing procedures such as radiography that is x-rays, positron emission tomography or PET, computed tomography or CT scans and MRI’s (magnetic resonance imaging. To qualify as a radiologist one has to complete a four year bachelor degree, another four years studying for an M.D. (doctors) degree and a five year residency course in radiology. Here are some steps to guide to become a radiologist.
Step one:
- Do well in your high school education. This will give you a great head start. Take specific courses which relate to medicine and biology and excel at them.
- Take up relevant courses. Biology, Physics, Calculus and English are a must. Taking up additional honours courses will impress college authorities when looking for admissions but only if you do well in them too.
- Speak with your family doctor and request him to discuss medicinal careers with you. Most doctors will gratefully help if you display a love for medicine as they love people who share their enthusiasm.
- Sign up in hospitals to volunteer so as to be familiar with equipment, dealing with patients and the field in general.
- Take up extra curricular activities in school and/or college. Sports training is a good idea as it provides experience for medical field as well.
- Look for online resources. The MSAR or medical school admission requirement guide is readily available to provide great information on medical colleges, GPA and MCAT exam requirements and also various information on fees and scholarships.
Step two:
- Get yourself a premedical degree. A bachelor’s degree will take at the very least about four years from a good university or college. Getting a degree in biology is especially beneficial to obtain a radiology degree.
- Although you don’t require a science major, you have to take 2 years each of chemistry, calculus, biology and physics.
- Study for and take the MCAT that is the Medical College Admission test when in the junior year itself. Once done, start applying in medical schools or colleges.
- Most good colleges will require you to have a GPA score above 3.0 and hence you must study hard.
Step three:
- The Medical College Admission Test is an exam that evaluates your abilities in the medical field. It predicts the likelihood of your able to successfully endure medical college. A good score in MCAT exam is around 30, and an average one is around 24, an exceptional score is anything above 36.
- The test consists of multiple choice questions and cover a range of topics from the ability of the candidate to communicate to biological and physical sciences.
- The design of the exam tests the students writing skills, analytical abilities as well as their problem solving skills. This test should take about 5 hours to complete so make sure you are well rested.
Step four:
- As soon as you receive your MCAT score apply to medical colleges of your preference. The AAMC has an AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) which is a simplified centralized application procedure. Use this to apply for over 115 medical schools in the United States.
- The main factors influencing your chances of getting into a medical college are your MCAT and GPA scores so make sure you do well in these.
- Upon completion of your medical school you will be a doctor but will still have to complete your radiologist course to become one.