Mentorship/shadowing for high school student

If you enter your zip code in the find a surgeon function on the ASPS website, you will get a list of plastic surgeons in your area. Try contacting them to see if they accept high school students as shadows.

Not everybody will agree with me but my opinion is that shadowing a plastic surgeon from high school would be a waste of time. It is a long road to becoming a plastic surgeon and the first thing he needs to do is wanting to be a physician. It is not easy to become a physician and takes a lot of work and dedication by him. He needs to be making straight A's in high school and take the proper AP courses and finish with chemistry, physics and calculus. Instead of wasting time in an office he needs to be taking the Princeton SAT review course or another similar to make the highest grades possible so he can go to a good university. Once there he needs to have pretty much A's and a high score in the MCAT to get admitted to medical school and there he needs to be at the top of the class to get into plastic surgery. There will be plenty of time to observe plastic surgery in med school. So, spend every bit of spare time studying. Yes, he can do it if he wants to. Rec read book "The Facemaker"

I disagree in part with Alfred Antonetti. I do think it can be helpful for a high school student to see different careers first hand and I enjoy having students come to the practice. More important than just looking around, is to speak to the physician about what they like and don't like about their profession. This should be qualified by saying that not all physicians are good preceptors; some will paint a bleak picture of what they do while other may give an unrealistic impression, e.g. a totally cosmetic practice is very different than one that also does reconstruction. Alfred's recommendations, however, are spot on with regard to the importance of students with medical aspirations applying themselves to doing the best they can in their academic endeavors. That said, they should also strive to be well-rounded with participation in sports, other extracurricular activities, hobbies, community service, etc. School comes first, though. I wish your son success. R. Bosshard

I agree with Alfred that it’s a waste of time at the high school level. It’s really hard for any plastic surgeon to let a MINOR into their office since most patients are female and very exposed. He could have nightmares watching a labiaplasty. I have mentored several college students as a favor to friends but they did not have the grades or motivation. Nowadays you can always go to YouTube or social media to see all the plastic surgery 24/7. Another advice is to get into one of those accelerated combined college n med school programs to get to your future faster if you’re mature n ready.