MHS Senior Plans on Pursuing Pre-Med Track in College

Samantha Siegel, H&W Page Editor

This year, many Mamaroneck seniors decided pre-med was the right track for them to follow in the upcoming school year. One of those seniors is Kate Metzendorf (‘21), who will be majoring in chemistry at University of Michigan this fall, and hopes to become a pediatrician. Like many who want to study medicine, she has always wanted to be in a career where she could help people, and she enjoys the sciences. To her, medicine seemed like the perfect option to study. She described how studying medicine is going to have highlights but also be a challenge for her. Kate explained how she looks forward to shadowing doctors and experiencing work in the medical field, like helping to diagnose patients and interacting with them. She also noted how many of the classes on the pre-med track are incredibly challenging and require a lot of effort and time, as well as how tough medical school is. When asked about what she anticipates to be one of the most difficult aspects of the pre-med track, Kate responded, “I think the biggest challenge for me will be to find a good balance between working hard in school and doing well, but also making time for friends and extracurriculars.”

The pre-med track requires one year of biology, one year of chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics, and multiple other classes that are not by any means easy. Medical schools may have slightly different requirements for prospective students. Becoming a doctor requires four to five years of pre-med, four years of medical school, and then three to seven years of residency, varying based on what you are studying before you can start to work in your field. To get into medical school, students also have to pass the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test), which is an over seven hour-long test that covers many subjects and requires months of studying. Most pre-med students will also have some sort of real life experience during their time in college, such as shadowing doctors (following real doctors at their job and helping with tasks, observing what a day in the life of a doctor is like, taking notes), doing lab and analytical research, and volunteering at hospitals.

The pre-med track is incredibly difficult, but it is also very rewarding. Shadowing doctors and getting the experience of helping people is just the tip of the iceberg as to what Mamaroneck seniors on the pre-med track have to look forward to next year. A lot of determination is needed to balance the courses on the pre-med track, but in the end, putting in the hard work on the pre-med track is incredibly rewarding.