I am a junior right now and it is gonna be time for me to choose which colleges to apply to soon. I do know that I want to go into the medical field and become a doctor in the end. What I am unsure of is whether I should go into a 7 year program and become a doctor right away or take an extra 4 years of school doing undergrad. I’m really unsure of the pros and cons of each. If I choose the 7 year path, then iI become a doctor, but i do not have the chance of going into a big names school like JHU , which is a school I can go to going out of undergrad. I’m unsure of what to do. If anyone knows please let me know. My biggest concern is going into a 7 year program in a school not big named, and that affects me in the long run. If there are any opinions please let me know. Thank you
The purpose of accelerated BA/MD is to lock in high achieving students who would otherwise not consider attending the undergrad or med school.
An accelerate BA/MD program places severe limits on your undergrad major and consumes your summers with coursework. This mean you won’t be able to pursue things like summer research fellowships. If you should change your mind about pursuing med school or fail to meet program benchmarks, you are left in bad place with a degree that does not prepare you for graduate school, other careers and CV that may not appeal to other med schools.
Medical students from accelerated 7 year BA/MDs tend to have lower board scores than students who attend med school through the traditional 8 year path. It’s your board scores that determine your future specialty and the prestige/rank of your future residency program.
So there is trade-off. You’re guaranteed a medical school admission, shave a year off earning your medical degree and will be able to enter medical practice/start earning $$$ sooner, but in return you limit your options.
Only you can decided what’s best for you.