Mount Shasta teen dreams of being a surgeon, heads to elite recruitment program in Boston

As long as he can remember, Rhyder Jeffrey Uttech of Mount Shasta was fascinated by machines and how their different parts work in tandem. He toyed with the idea of working with airplanes or cars when he grew up.

Then, at age 13, while watching his mother have oral surgery, he discovered a passion for fixing a far more complex machine: The human body.

“I went over to the dentist and asked, ‘How does this work?’” he said. “It amazes me we have the technology to fix people. It would be so awesome for me one day to help save somebody’s life.”

Now 14, the Mount Shasta High School ninth grader joined approximately 7,000 other honor students across the United States at a medical education conference near Boston, intended to inspire the next generation of doctors and medical researchers. Uttech served as a delegate at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders June 21–23 at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

He spent the 14 hours daily hearing speakers from different medical fields, having discussions with educators and making friends with like-minded teens, said Uttech, who wants to be a maxillofacial surgeon. That's a dental surgeon who specializes in treating injuries and diseases and corrects defects in the face, neck, jaw and mouth.

Delegates to the annual congress are nominated by teachers and doctors, according to the host organization, the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists.

Uttech said his biology teacher, Donna Chapman, recommended him.

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Programs like the one Uttech attended are one way today’s doctors are encouraging teens to be tomorrow’s medical students. That effort comes at a time when there’s a crucial need for doctors and medical scientists, Uttech said.

That next generation of doctors will be desperately needed for an aging American population, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which predicts the United States will face a shortage of at least 38,000 doctors by 2034, with at least 15,800 of them being surgeons.

Reasons more students aren't applying to medical schools include the cost in time and money that it takes to study to become a doctor. Average costs for a four years of medical school in 2023 ranges from $159,620 to $256,412, according to education research site educationdata.org. That's in addition to the cost of getting a bachelor's degree.

Other reasons for the growing doctor shortage are the limited number of residencies available to students after they finish school and the red tape involved in bringing foreign-trained physicians to the U.S., according to Med School Insiders, a website run by doctors intending to support medical school students.

Becoming an oral surgeon requires an average of 12 to 14 years of university and residency training, according to the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Attending the conference with like-minded peers and medical mentors helped him understand the requirements and stoked his passion, Uttech said. “Getting to see a live (rotator cuff) surgery performed really confirmed my interest in this field of study and practice,” he said.

The conference’s purpose is “to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in our country and help them stay true to their dreams,” according to hosting organization the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists.

Past speakers include Nobel laureates, National Medal of Science recipients and top medical school administrators, including M. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General in the 1990s, according to the academy.

Uttech said he learned “all the steps necessary to pursue a medical career” at the conference. “I've gained so much inspiration and tools to pursue my dreams of becoming a surgical doctor,” he said.

He’s already picked out schools, he said. “My first choice would be Harvard. John Hopkins my second choice. I could really see myself here (in Boston) minus the humidity.”

But he’s open to other opportunities on the West Coast, too. “I've sure been missing our mountain air,” he said from Boston on June 27.

Wherever he lands, he sees himself owning his own practice in 15 to 20 years, Uttech said.

For more information about the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists and the programs it offers go to futuredocs.com.

Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Mount Shasta High teen joins other future doctors at medical congress