<p>OK, I know this topic comes up all too often, but I am seriously considering going on to pursue a medical career as medicine has always fascinated me. Right know, it looks like that I will be attending a large state school next year-- could be ut, osu, or penn state. So, what exactly is a pre med program? Is it, in fact, just a list of classes required for one to be eligible to apply to med schools? If so, how is a pre med student treated/peceived by the administrative staff at his/her university and does he/she recieve some kind of diploma or certificate? One other thing, I am very intersted in psychology and computer science. Would it be realistic to major in both these areas and still complete the premed prequistes? How long would this take? How long does an average premed student take to finish the requirements and what does he do in the meantime(any specific activities/laboratories/research/other majors)? Lastly, once every class is taken and all other matters addressed, to how many med schools are you likely to apply to? And, at the end of the journey, is all the long devotion worth it--both finantially and professionally?</p>
<p>I realize that this is quite an extensive amount of information I inquire about, but hopefully some of you can help me bettre understand the process.</p>
<p>And one more tiny thing, is the school you go to as an undergrad and grad going to impact your appication to med schools? IN other words, does the prestige of your university matters or are the med schools particularly looking as your status as a candidate(mcat/gpa/recs)?</p>
<p>There are several useful threads you should read. Run searches for "Coursework", "What should a premed major in?". "Good pre-med schools" is a sticky thread.</p>
<p>1.) Premed is simply a list of courses, usually ten or so, that you take to be eligible to apply to medical schools.</p>
<p>2.) Depending on your undergraduate school, but most do not give official distinction to premedical students.</p>
<p>3.) How realistic it is to major in a specific subject while being a premed varies depending on your undergraduate school.</p>
<p>4.) Premedical requirements are often accomplished mostly in two years, with a few extra classes that find themselves pushed into your junior year. You are, of course, balancing other things on top of these. (Otherwise ten classes would only take you one year to do.)</p>
<p>5.) Generally premeds spend time in a healthcare setting volunteering/shadowing or doing research.</p>
<p>6.) The number of medical schools you apply to - you guessed it - varies depending on home state, your qualifications, and the kind of medical schools you are shooting for. Among the current medical students on this board, I believe BRM applied to five (correct me if I'm wrong) and I applied to twenty-five. I would urge you to think of fifteen as being a normal number.</p>
<p>7.) I'll leave this for someone who is... well, at the end of his journey.</p>
<p>The length of study... as a premed? Or to become a doctor? What kind of span are you looking for?</p>
<p>As stated, being a premed will require you to go to college, which takes four years. Of those four, you will almost certainly spend at least two of them enrolled in premedical classes.</p>
<p>Becoming a doctor requires undergraduate work. Sometimes, applicants pursue further education, either for a master's or a degree-less post-bacc program. Some even obtain PhD's, but this is more rare. You then attend medical school for four years.</p>
<p>Then comes a residency/fellowship, which varies in length from three years to ... probably as many as nine. Some (rare) physicians will even specialize twice, pushing their post-medical-school training into the twelve-to-fifteen year range.</p>
<p>Close BDM - 7 primary. Completed 4 secondary apps, rejected pre-secondary by one, didn't complete two. Interviewed at two. Invited to interview at a third. Biggest difference in our lists I think was the public/private ratio. I'm sure if I had applied to a majority of private schools I would have applied to more.</p>
<p>Mark what do you mean by length of study? How much time is spent studying every day for classes will vary person to person and semester to semester.</p>
<p>As for length of time from HS grad to being an MD - 4 years of undergrad (college), 4 years of medical school (receive MD at graduation), then 3-7 years of residency training depending on the specialty you choose. Of course realize that many people take 5 years to graduate (and some people take 3) from college, and many people do not get in on their first application and thus must wait a year (sometimes two, sometimes more) before getting accepted. So it can be a long time between graduating HS and actually getting into practice on your own.</p>
<p>Can you comment on whether a ridiculous amount of studying is required on a daily basis for people that are bright but not geniuses? </p>
<p>For example, I've heard that a typical schedule for freshman year as a premed is something like Bio I, Chem I, maybe Calc I, and an elective or a second elective in place of math. Does this schedule force you to abandon some sleep or give up hanging w/ friends? I know there is a ton of non-class time in college compared to high school--how much of that is spent studying I guess is what I'm asking.</p>
<p>This varies from person to person. [Rhetorical questions follow.] How good was your high school? What's your IQ? How fast do you read? What are your classes curved to? What kind of medical schools are you aiming for? How well do your professors lecture? Do you have a good study group? Is there one kid in the class who asks annoying questions and distracts the professor? Is your textbook very readable? Do you have a background in this?</p>
<p>Ok, but is the student supposed to manage his or her classes or does the school do it for you? IN other words, if I go to my college guidance counselour and tell him/her that I want to be a pre med, will she make sure that I complete the requirements henceforth by putting me in pre med classes every semester or are you the one that is responsible for picking and signing up for classes?</p>
<p>One more thing, How long would it take to major in cs/psychology and still complete premed requirements?</p>
<p>Finally, is it much more difficult to get an interviews if you are coming from schools that are not necessarily in the top 50 of usnews. I guess my point is, lets say I have a 3.9 GPA and top 97 percentile mcat from a lower caliber insitution(such as those i mentioned above), are my chances of being accepted or interviewed drastically reduced because I am not at Brown, Cornell, NYU, and the like?</p>
<p>1.) As you'll find in college, very little is typically managed "for you".</p>
<p>2.) How realistic it is to major in a specific subject while being a premed varies depending on your undergraduate school. (See previous post.) By implication, how long it will take varies depending on your school.</p>
<p>3.) This was covered in depth in the "Good Premed Schools" thread and won't be addressed here.</p>
<p>4.) No! Being a premed just means taking certain classes. Unless your school won't let you take biology without a certain SAT score (I've never heard of this), nobody will care.</p>
<p>These particular circumstances certainly were not addressed in that thread, so I was hoping for some type of feedback from someone who is experienced with this.</p>
<p>I appreciate your help, but I am more interested in a genuine response rather than vague comments.</p>
<p>If someone can still assist me, I would be extremely grateful.</p>
<p>What questions were unsatisfactorily answered for you, mark19? I personally think that your answers were answered, so can you be more specific about what you're confused about?</p>