How to know if I should be a doctor? HELP

[deermd]

Hello, I'm new here. I'm a junior in HS but my main problem is that I have little to no exposure to health fields where I live. No one in my family is even related to medicine, and in the country I live in (a country in Central America), "shadowing" doctors really isn't a thing. One does not volunteer at hospitals, but rather volunteers to help fund events to help the hospitals. There's really isn't any opportunities for high school students to get exposed to medical fields. Which sucks.
I also study in a fairly new high school, it's 5 years old to be exact. It doesn't offer chemistry, which is one of the things I'm really worried about (will I completely fail chem at undergrad? Is it even worth taking a pre-med path when I know nothing about chemistry?)
So, I guess my main question is, how do I know if eventually becoming a physician is for me? Should I go with my gut and start my journey to become a doctor or should I consider becoming something else?

little background: U.S citizen by birth, never lived in the US. Studying in an IB school, so the system is different which means we don't get GPAs (in fact, I know very little about the GPA system). Will most likely study in the US.

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[I'm No Superman]

Well, if you plan on studying in the U.S. regardless of whether or not you do medicine, getting into college should be your first goal. Your guidance counselor should know more about that, but I'm guessing it'll be something along the lines of doing well in classes, good standardized test scores, etc. Then when you're in college, shop around a little bit, take a little bio, a little business/whatever else you're interested in, and shadow docs in the U.S.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

It's far easier to get into US med schools with a US undergrad degree.

To answer your actual question: dive head in on premed. Double up on science, join clubs, try and shadow. You'll figure out pretty quick if it isn't for you. The premed path doesn't teach you to be a doctor--that's what med school is for! In undergrad, the premed path shows you if you want to be a doctor.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

Yeah, to make what I was saying earlier clearer: premed is one of the most strict paths (excepting math, compsci, and engineering). You can't take Orgo II until you've taken Orgo I, and you need classes before those. Start with premed, so if you choose to do something else (like business), the order is less set and you can do it all later in you academic career. Versus starting with business and switching to premed halfway through junior year--those people often need to do a post-bac.

Also, no one expects high school students to shadow in any country. It happens, but not often.

 

[FlameBroiledDoc]

Talk to people that work in health care. Talk to people that have been patients/clients of the health care system and ask what they do and don't like in doctors. Ask questions in forums like this and others. You're only in high school, so you have a long time before needing to worry about medical school. Do you like people? Do you like working around many different people? Are you science-minded? What about medicine seems like it might be for you?

 

[Medic741]

Lol liking people is certainly not a pre req to get into medicine

Do you like science?

Will you go the extra mile to help someone?

Are you smart?

Willing to give up 7 years of your life?

Want to make +$200k/yr?