Technical School and Community College 

If you pursue a technical medical career, you most likely will attend a "for-profit" technical school or community college to get the training you need.  Some hospitals provide technical training as well. The best way to find out what training is required in any specialized technical area is to contact a professional organization.  We've provided links to many in our career description pages. 

While many people attend "for-profit" schools, most find it far less expensive to take classes at a community college.  Not only are the costs more reasonable, but many "for-profit" technical schools are not accredited.  Some are unethical and make job placement promises they don't keep.  If you are thinking about enrolling at a "for-profit" school, be sure to check them out with the Better Business Bureau and your state's department of education. 
 
Usually, the requirements for entering a community college are very basic.  You must be 18 and have a high school diploma or have passed a General Educational Development (GED) test.  It's likely that a community college near you has a website where you can check out its admission requirements and programs of study. If it does, you can probably link to it from the Yahoo! list of Community Colleges. 

When it comes to general admittance, your high school curriculum or grade point average probably won't matter.  Most community colleges admit anyone who meets their basic requirements.  Your high school curriculum and grade point average will matter, though, if you want to enroll in one of the highly popular medical career programs.  Many students do, and space is usually very limited.  If you don't have a good high school record, you probably won't get into the program you want until you've demonstrated you can do college-level work. 

Undergraduate College Degrees 

It's really beyond the scope of our website to discuss getting into a college that is right for you and provides the academic, technical, or professional programs that you're interested in.  There are many good resources on preparing for, applying to, and succeeding in college.  Many also provide detailed reviews about specific schools and the programs they offer.  Check out your nearest bookstore or library and you'll find scores of books on the subject.  There is even a large number of websites that provide this type of information.  Again, the Yahoo! list of College Entrance sites is a good place to start a web search. 

If you are considering going to medical school you may find it worth your time to investigate the college section from the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) from the misc.education.medical newsgroup 

One thing that you should keep in mind if you are considering applying to medical school is that you don't have to major in biology, chemistry, or any other science as an undergraduate.  In fact, information from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) shows that students who majored in non-science disciplines like philosophy, history, or English have higher acceptance rates than students who majored in a science. 

Regardless of your college major, you will need to take certain courses as an undergraduate.  Almost all medical schools require one year each of general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and biology (or zoology), and over half require a year of math through calculus.