Hi all. I’m looking at attending TAMU for four years, taking the MCAT and hopefully attending the military’s med school, USUHS. Does anyone have advice as to what the best major is for a future physician? I know it is no longer necessary to major in science but I was thinking about Biology or Biomedical Science so I get my prereqs for med school. ANY advice is greatly appreciated.
I personally have no experience doing pre-med, but I know many that have gone that route.
There seems to be a couple options from what I have seen:
Conventional Approach: Biology, Chemistry, BioChem, Biomedical Science, etc.
This is more of an all-in approach since the job prospects in some of the sciences is fairly grim even with graduate school. However, the benefit to this track is pre-med classes may fit very well within the curriculum of whatever major you choose.
Safety Net Approach: Engineering (Many do Biomedical)
This is a more difficult path to get a high GPA, but it gives you more options as far as employment if things don’t go quite as planned. Pre-med classes will likely be an extra load to add on if you don’t go BioMed.
From my experience in college, I would say that you need to major in something that you at least have some passion for. This makes the long hard hours of studying more bearable which can translate to better performance in the classroom. The students that tend to do best in the classroom can find lots of enjoyment even in the tough portions of the curriculum. Furthermore, if you can get involved in research that is fantastic, and you will enjoy the research if you are passionate about the subject.
I have known people that have done each of these approaches, and they are both very much viable options. There are probably other options out there too that work just as well.
I’m not premed but I’ve heard a lot of people say to stray away from predicable sciences like biology/chemistry or biomedical science, since that’s what most applicants major in and med schools would like more diversity in their applicants’ majors.