I am looking for resources such as magazines, clubs or web sites that
would be appropriate to help nurture the career ambitions of an 11
year old who wants to be a doctor when he grows up.  I am aware of
different organizations such as 4H or the Boy Scouts who offer a merit
badge on the topic, but what I am really hoping to find are resources
that are very focused on the dream of becoming a doctor and that are
age appropriate for a middle school student.

---

Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 09 May 2002 09:03 PDT

Hi,

A preliminary search allowed me to realize that most of the
organizations such as the ones you are describing are affiliated with
specific universities. So in order for me to provide a useful asnwer I
need to find out the area for which this search is conducted. Although
your son may not end up going to this school he will gain exposure.
Unfortunately the pickings are slim when it comes to resources for a
future doctor that is so young (most are targeted at sophmore high
school students and above).

answerguru-ga

---

Clarification of Question by jmhines123-ga on 09 May 2002 09:57 PDT

I am aware of the university related camps aimed at high school kids. 
What I am really interested in is not a specific experience like a
camp but an ongoing source of information & inspiration.

Hi,

How lucky your son is to have such a supportive and encouraging
parent! I hope you and your son will find the below info of use.

In summary, I could not find specific periodicals or clubs for
children focusing on a career in medicine. However, there were some
excellent web resources that you can use. Furthermore, once your son
is a few years older there are some internship programs for teens.

Medicine & Medical Career Websites for Kids
-------------------------------------------
The best doctor career site that I found was "Kids Like Ours: Career
info for Children"

Their doctor-specific career info for kids can be found at:

	http://www.kidslikeours.com/dream/d1.htm

They provide links to other relevant websites, as well as
recommendations for age appropriate books from primary through high
school.

I also liked KidsHealth.org, a health info site specifically geared
towards kids:

	http://kidshealth.org/kid/

This site is an excellent place for your son to explore and learn
about common diseases and illnesses (such as cold sores and
carpel-tunnel syndrome.) All of the info appears to be targeted at
teens and pre-teens. They even have articles on going to and
understanding the role of different types of doctors, such as
Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Dentist and "Doctor."


How to Become a Doctor
----------------------
The American Association of Medical Colleges also offers some
extremely basic info on becoming a doctor and some things to consider
before embarking this path.
	http://www.aamc.org/students/considering/start.htm


Careers in Animal Medicine
--------------------------
You didn't mention if your son was interested in being a human or
animal doctor. If his interests tend towards animals, check out The
Smithsonian Institute's info on becoming a doctor:

	http://pandas.si.edu/careers/preparation.htm

Internships for Teens
---------------------
Stanford University's Center for Clinical Sciences Research offers 8
weeks summer internships to high school students. According to an
SFgate article located at:

	http://ccis.stanford.edu/newsarticles/sfchronsept14/sept14.htm

"To be accepted, students must have had at least one year of high
school biology and chemistry, plus an A grade-point average and
stellar test scores. A letter of recommendation is also required."

I would guess that this would require a student to be at least a
sophomore before being eligible unless your son is planning on taking
advanced placement classes through his junior high school.


The University of Connecticut offers the "Health Professions
Partnership Initiative" focusing on minority and disadvantaged
students. According to their site at:

	http://medicine.uchc.edu/departments/hcop/index.shtml

"Program elements focus on upper elementary, middle/junior high
school, high school and college level students. "

Other Programs
--------------
USC offers a "Health Care Professionals Awareness Day" to local
schools. There is an article on their program at:

	http://www.usc.edu/hsc/info/pr/1vol3/303/students.html

It would probably be worthwhile for you to visit the websites of any
local medical colleges to see if they might offer similar school
programs in your area.

Search Strategy
---------------
Terms used: 	teens career medicine

		kids career medicine

I hope this info is of help to you and your son. 

Thanks for using Google Answers!

pkp-ga

Thank you.  Lots of information to check out.

I'm not sure if your local hospital would have any programs for
awareness or volunteering that are suitable for an 11 year old, but
it's probably a good place to start.  They may be able to direct you
to any clubs or programs.

mes384

Possible Website (limited): http://www.laportehealth.org/justforkids/beadoc.html

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has on its web
site a quick view which includes "Getting Into Medical School" and
"Financial Planning."  This area of study for an 11 year-old yeilded
for me no real information of the type for which I believe you are
looking.  http://www.aamc.org/students/considering/careers.htm

You may consider the absence of information as an opportunity to
compile your own course of study concerning the field of medicine for
this age group, and perhaps begin a web site for children with similar
interests.  For general reading of a career in medicine, I would
suggest securing a copy of "So You Want to Be a Doctor: The Realities
of Pursuing Medicine As a Career" by Naomi Bluestone or "120 Careers
in the Health Care Field" by Stanley Alperin.  The books are currently
out-of-print (maybe find on an online auction like Ebay) but they may
provide your child some assistance, or contact a local physician and
ask him/her what books they read as children that advanced their
knowledge and interest in medicine.

I was unable to find any websites for children with information about
medical careers that is often updated as you requested so I’m sharing
what I did find as a comment rather than as an answer.

The Burea of Labor Statistics website includes a Career Information
section for children.  Their page on being a doctor is at
http://www.bls.gov/k12/html/sci_003.htm .

From the BLS page, I followed a link and found the Association of
American Medical Colleges’s “Considering a Career in Medicine” page
(http://www.aamc.org/students/considering/start.htm ).  Though this
page states “[h]igh school is not too soon to think about a career in
medicine” the internal links on this site seem to be a good jumping
off point of reading material for you and your child.  Topics include
Exploring Careers in Medicine, Deciding to Become a Doctor, and
Getting Into Medical School.

Though the Student Doctor Network
(http://www.studentdoctor.net/idex.asp ) is geared toward pre-med
college students or those currently in med school, it has numerous
links that will be helpful as your child gets older.  The Big Guide to
Medical School (http://www.studentdoctor.net/guide/index.html )
includes a section for high school students covering classes to take
and volunteering.  The site also includes a Student Forums bulletin
board where you could post and ask the participating medical students
if they might have additional resources for your son.  I was going to
do that myself but I could not ever get the bulletin board to load but
perhaps you’ll have better luck.

Hello!

I've just noticed this question (as well as some of your others) and
though it's an older question, I figure that this may be of interest
to you:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=287766

I hope that helps!

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga