Recently, I have decided that medicine is the path for me after experiencing a traumatic event. Before, I did not want to do medicine because I was not passionate about it, and I knew that committing to the medical field requires a lot of patience and genuine interest. Now, I feel extremely motivated to pursue medicine. I have been looking at BS/MD programs and while I have a lot of science extracurriculars (that can somewhat be flipped to the biology side since they are biomedical applications), I do not have many “medical” extracurriculars. Would it be worth it to apply to BS/MD programs? (Sorry for the long post and any advice would be immensely appreciated!)
If you only recently decided that you want to be a doctor, why not just consider a traditional route to medicine (which is how most doctors become doctors)? You know, getting your BA at a regular college and then applying to medical school in your senior year of college or beyond.
Full disclosure - I am not a fan of the idea of combined BS/MD programs. I think they require young people to make decisions about their careers and career goals at a time when they haven’t really been exposed to many careers or options yet, or had the opportunity to do some exploration of the many paths they can take. They also pigeonhole you to select from the small number of schools that offer BS/MD programs rather than allowing you to choose the best college or university for you.
BUT if they are to be chosen, they are best for students who have known for a reasonably long time (at least since the beginning of high school, if not earlier) that they want to be doctors and have not wavered from that or changed their mind much in the ensuing years. That raises the chances that the student won’t regret their choice or want to leave the program partway through, or get discouraged by the challenges it presents.
It’s much easier to get out of a BS/MD program than to get in, and just finish a regular BS degree. Most of the only take the tip top of the applicant pool. The major advantage is guaranteed admission to the associated medical program.
However, such a guarantee is typically conditional on earning a college GPA and MCAT score that would otherwise give a decent chance of admission to an MD school the regular way, though if the BS/MD student does meet that threshold, s/he will be able to avoid the cost, hassle, uncertainty, and stress of the MD school application process.
Yes, what you’re saying is true @ucbalumnus , but as for @lateststar124 , yes you should definitely apply to BS/DO programs. You sound like a student with great potential, and it would never hurt to try. As long as you’re willing to take the time to complete your application, you don’t really lose anything.
In terms of which path is better - either a BS/DO or BS/MD program, OR getting your BS and MD/DO separately - they both have their benefits and downsides. Going to a medical program gives you a higher chance of a spot in medical school, but the only hard part is, you have to maintain your GPA to what it needs to be, otherwise they might give you the boot.
With a separate BS degree, you don’t really have to face that issue because obviously you’re not tied to anything
As for myself, I’m a junior and I’m graduating this year, and I’m applying to the NYIT BS/DO program.
Here is something BS/MD aspirants should consider…would I be happy to get just BS/BA degree from that college. Because it is a good possibility, whether it is for not meeting MD admission requirements (e.g. GPA, MCAT Score) or for loosing interest in medicine altogether.