I am interested in becoming a doctor, but because of how expensive and time consuming medical school is, I am interested in pursuing a B.S./M.D. program. I have a lot of questions about this topic, so if you can answer one or more, that would be really helpful. Do you have any recommendations for the best programs? I kind of want to go to a prestigious medical school because I think it would make it easier to get a good residency and help me make more connections. I am looking for B.S./M.D. programs with the least amount of time required to get these degrees, really good programs and prestige, etc. Also, are these programs really course heavy? I’d imagine they are because you’re getting 8 years of education in possibly 6 years. Is it manageable? Is it worth it? Does it make it easier or harder to get into your first choice of residency? How hard is it to get into these programs? Other than the amount of time spent in school, what is the difference between the traditional way of getting a Bachelor’s then a MD and a B.S./M.D. program? Thanks so much!
To guide you properly, inform if you are a student or parent and if student which grade you are currently.
There are 2 sections in CC and specific threads have tons of information. But if you are a student, would recommend to focus on your studies and ask parent to review and share the findings to save your time.
Very briefly to address few myths. You get in to good residency because of what you did in your MD in the lowest ranked college and not because of attending prestigious college. There is nothing called best BS/MD programs, since each program has its own pros and cons. Would recommend when time comes apply to few BS/MD and few good UG colleges of your interest. No need to rush to do it only in 6 years BS/MD programs or desperation to do it any where at any cost at HS stage like apply to BS/DO, Caribbean, International, for profit MD schools etc
95% of students do MD via regular route and with gap years due to personal or forced situations.
You have some contradictory desires: you want prestige but you want to rush though as quickly as possible. You can’t have both. All undergrad/MD programs moving into the MD portion of the program requires maintaining a minimum GPA which is usually high. Some such programs require you to get a minimum score on the MCAT, others do not. Most top medical schools do not offer a combined program.
Things come up that you wont be able to control. During your interviews (there are multiple), the committees will ask about your experiences. You cannot rush through those. You need to know that IF you get in, these programs will cost you a LOT of money. IF you don’t invest the time, you wont know how that will hit you in practice. We’re in Covid; the med students never expected this and have all had to change how they practice. After Covid, go shadow someone for awhile. You need to see actual practice.