<p>I read somewhere about a Duke student who had done FOCUS and was a little behind in his courses (since most medical school requirements need to be pretty much finished by junior year?) </p>
<p>Are there any current Duke premeds who have done either Duke Engage, FOCUS, or study abroad (or a combination!) and still managed to be on track for medical school applications without taking a year off? </p>
<p>Thank you so much to anyone who responds!</p>
<p>Almost no med schools require that you finish requirements by junior year. I’m actually in the middle of the app cycle right now and I’ve yet to run across any in the upper, middle, or lower tier med schools with that requirement. You probably misunderstood it when people advise that you at least finish your intro science classes by junior year as that’s the year that you usually take the MCAT and you would want to have done those courses by then in order to take it. </p>
<p>The strictest med schools (top tier ones like Cornell, U of Washington, etc with great MD/PhD programs) generally only require that you be finished with your requirements by their latest application deadline, a date usually set sometime in January of the year you plan to matriculate. Even in such cases, their deans can and do make exceptions for applicants. The only hard deadline is that you must have finished those requirements by the time you graduate and before you start your first day of med school.</p>
<p>Oh I see! Thank you so much! So basically, participating in these programs won’t be much of a setback. Is there a recommended time line to do these programs if you’re a premed? (aka, FOCUS- freshmen year, study abroad- senior year, or something like that?)</p>
<p>I’m asking because I would like to briefly mention these in my Why Duke essay, but I want to seem plausible when I mention involvement in one (or two) of these programs.</p>
<p>I can’t really tell you much because I don’t know your situation with regard to APs and potential majors etc. But I can give some general info I suppose:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you want to do FOCUS, and you can make it work in context of your future plans (major requirements, study abroad, premed classes), then freshmen year is the time that the majority of students do it. As for making it work, you need to talk to your advisor or at least figure your plans out first. </p></li>
<li><p>Study abroad: many Duke students do that during their junior year, many during the fall (giving you time to take the MCAT and tent w/e in the spring). Very few do it during sophomore year and most would prefer to stay on campus for their senior year. Whether you can do it depends entirely on your plans (like FOCUS)</p></li>
<li><p>DukeEngage, usually done during the summers so it should not affect your course schedule (unless you plan to take summer classes). You can do it during any one of the 3 summers when you are free. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Another things to note (though might not necessarily apply to you), if you are interested in MD/PhD programs, it’s best to do DukeEngage early so that you can set aside long periods of time during sophomore/junior/senior years and summers for long term research projects. This consideration is VERY important and cannot be emphasized enough.</p>
<p>Wow thank you for the input! It was really helpful. :)</p>
<p>It can be done. I am premed, have participated in Duke Engage, and am currently studying abroad. It definitely took planning given that I’m not a science major as well, which means I have to take a lot of courses outside my major. To accomplish this, I had to take summer classes and overload two semesters. In my opinion, it was definitely worth the sacrifice.</p>
<p>Definitely possible. Duke pre-med advisors ENCOURAGE you to take part in these things.</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses, everyone! PPham27, did you have time to do long term research projects like the ones SBR mentioned?</p>
<p>Re: DukeEngage - I know that many of the DukeEngage programs had a component for students to volunteer at medical clinics. </p>
<p>Take a look at the 2010 matrix and search for health:</p>
<p><a href=“http://dukeengage.duke.edu/uploads/assets/DE-GroupProgramsMatrix10(1).pdf[/url]”>http://dukeengage.duke.edu/uploads/assets/DE-GroupProgramsMatrix10(1).pdf</a></p>
<p>keikoblue2: remember that I said long term projects were really important for MD/PhDs. Not so much for straight up premeds. If you just want to do the MD, then you should focus more on the clinical activities. Research isn’t as important for that track.</p>
<p>Ah I see. Thank you again for all your help, everyone. :)</p>