Doctors are generally thought of as being very smart, this does raise the question of just how smart do you have to be in order to become a doctor? The answer will likely come as a surprise to you since it is usually not required that you be much above the average when it comes to intelligence if you want to be a doctor. Obviously if you are going to become a doctor you will need to have a certain level of intelligence, it is not however necessary to be a genius. In fact you don't need to be nearly as smart as a lot of people think. Certainly you will need to have done well in school since your grades are important for getting into medical school. You will also need to have a good score on the MCAT which does require a fair amount of study. That being said getting the necessary grades is not nearly as hard as you would think. The courses that you are required to take at college in order to get into medical school are not the most difficult courses that you could take. Most students find that organic chemistry is the toughest of the pre-med courses. It is however a course that is largely about memorization more than it is about understanding difficult concepts. In that respect getting into med school does not require the same level of intelligence that you would need to become a mathematician or a physicist. These are subjects that require good abstract thinking, something that a lot of people simply don't have an aptitude for no matter how hard the try. Most people are capable of getting into medical school if they are willing to put in the work. The other big thing to keep in mind about getting into medical school is that your grades are not the only factor that is considered. They want to see that you are a compassionate person with a genuine interest in helping people. This is why things like volunteer work are so important to your medical school application. Ideally they would like to see volunteer work that involves some sort of medical component like volunteering at a hospital but anything that helps people will look good. Once you do get into medical school the work is not nearly as intellectually challenging as you may think. There are some concepts that need to be learned to be sure but most of your time will spent memorizing the things that you need to do in order to be a doctor. If you are willing to take the time to study you should be able to get through without too much difficultly, in fact very few people flunk out of medical school as most find it easier than pre-med studies. Source
