• Question: hello there im jade,i live in hull and i was just wondering, well i want to become a reconstruction plastic surgeon. but the thing isidont know how to start off where did you startto become whoyou are today?

    Asked by to Thon, Catherine, James, Natalie, Shaylon on 23 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Anthony Caravaggi

      Anthony Caravaggi answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Hi Jade. I started when I was very young as I grew up loving the natural world. Even before I ‘did science’, I was doing science by exploring and finding things out. It took me a while to get around to being a scientist (I went to art college and worked in IT first), but I got here in the end. I never lost the passion for science and nature and I didn’t give up on my dream.

      The best place to start is to have enthusiasm for what you want to do. And don’t be afraid to ask questions. Ask your teachers what they think, and maybe write a letter to a reconstructive plastic surgeon at a hospital or clinic. You’ll find that people can be quite happy to give advice. As you go through school, make sure you take the classes which will get you into University to study reconstructive plastic surgery (as well as your other classes of course).

      Work hard, be committed, and be enthusiastic. Good luck. 🙂

    • Photo: Natalie Pilakouta

      Natalie Pilakouta answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Hi Jade, I think Anthony gave you some good advice! My personal experience is that I first became interested in science in high school (when I was around 12-13 years old). I really enjoyed my science courses (especially Biology and Chemistry) and decided to take more advanced courses in these subjects (and did some GCEs). By the time I finished high school, I decided to focus on Biology, so I went to college to study Biology/Ecology and that’s where I got my first research experience and decided I wanted to do biological research as a career. It was really important for me to get a lot of research experience (in various topics and with a variety of species/study systems) to further narrow down what I wanted to focus on for my own research. I think these diverse experiences also helped me get accepted into the PhD program I am in now. I hope this helps a bit and good luck! 🙂

    • Photo: Catherine Offord

      Catherine Offord answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Hi Jade,

      If you know what it is you would like to do, like Anthony says, it helps to look into what might help you get there. For example, studying some scientific subjects really require a solid background in mathematics, so it’s helpful to study both. There will no doubt be subjects that are more helpful towards what you want to do – I would also recommend asking teachers about it!

      I was always interested in biology, but I didn’t always know I wanted to be a biologist. In fact, for a long time, I wanted to study music. And then languages. Whatever you want to do, it really helps to be studying things you enjoy. My advice would be: try to keep your options open, and see where your interests lead you!

    • Photo: James Bell

      James Bell answered on 23 Jun 2014:

      Hi Jade,

      Lots of great advice from Anthony, Catherine and Natalie so can only add a few more thoughts of my own. I’d definitely agree that enthusiasm is key here – you can go far in the job you are excited about because it doesn’t feel like hard work (at least not all the time!).

      It sounds to me as though you’d need to do a medicine degree and then specialise as a surgeon once you became a doctor. There’s lots of good books you can read about medicine and the medical profession (Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Pharma is a real eye opener if you want to learn more about the drug companies) so look out for some of those (it’ll help you get into Uni too). For medicine it’s also a really good idea to get as much work experience as you can – even if it’s not paid, it’s definitely worth it in the end. Ask doctors that you or your parents might know if they can guide you in what kinds of experience would be best (this is outside my area of expertise by a fair way now so I’m not sure what you ought to do specifically).

      As Anthony says, work hard, be committed and be enthusiastic. Nobody can do it for you and it will be hard work, but getting the job of your dreams will make you a happy person for a long time. In my experience, people who take the easy road whilst at school often end up in jobs they might not be particularly happy with and although they might of had more fun when they were teenagers, ultimately the people who worked hard when they were young are the real winners

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