Hello. So there’s probably two parts to this question so coming from someone who’s parents didn’t go to College in the USA. What would I need to enroll as a major or minor or what programs to become a surgeon.
The second part of the question starts here.
Now from what I think I know I can major in anything so let’s say I want to major in psychology. Could I potentially Major in Psychology and either Major or Minor in Musical Theatre and how would that work out? Also how much work should be expected and is it possible?
And I guess there’s three parts to this question but what would the difference be with Major/Minoring in Musical Theatre and what schools would allow me to do that? Thank you to everyone!!
I’ll address the 3 parts separately,
To become a surgeon, you’d need to major in something along the pre-med track. This typically is Health Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, or something in that route.
You could technically major in psychology and minor in MT (a double major would likely be too much work and wouldn’t make much sense if you want to be a surgeon.) It’ll be more work than a minor in STEM since the coursework won’t overlap, but it’s definitely been done before.
A major would be a large amount of coursework that’ll probably take more than 4 years to complete with another major. MT programs are very rigorous and most students only do an MT major with no double or minor. A minor will be more like an add-on where you get to take some classes in dance, music, and theater. It won’t be as much of a preparation for a job in the industry (depending on the school).
As for schools, that really depends. You’ll want a school that is good in both STEM and MT, which is few and far between. Most schools don’t offer MT in the first place, or they offer separate drama, dance, and vocal minors. Or schools that do offer MT don’t offer it as a minor since the coursework is so tough. Some good overall schools that do offer MT minors are: Averett, Cal St Northridge, Cal State Sacramento, Hofstra, Lipscomb, Loyola Chicago, Northeastern, SMU, UNCG, Southern Cal. If you’re set on doing a double major, UMich and CMU are some of the best all around.
I don’t know if this as a great idea. I can’t imagine how most people could find the time required to be a successful pre-med student (with difficult courses labs and medically related activities) and and a serious musical theater student (with lessons and a committed performance schedule.)
You can major in anything prior to medical school (including psychology or musical theater), but you have to have taken a specific set of courses and often it’s easier to go on and major in a science. But Musical Theater is quite time consuming and may not be the most practical fit.
Famously, completely wrong. As @happy1 & @Conformist1688 point out it’s a lot about how you allocate your time- and what you enjoy studying. A lot of students who want to go into medicine are drawn to STEM majors out of interest. Others (like you) have other strong interests that they want to keep up.
The MT major/minor is a particularly time-heavy commitment, but you don’t have to major/minor in it to be very involved in theatre at university. One of my collegekids loved theatre, and was actively involved with drama productions throughout college- but only ever took 1 theatre class.
1 Like
So looking at these responses I think I would like to minor in MT but what other schools would have good med programs or classes along with offering MT as a minor!
You can complete the pre-med courses at just about any college or university in the US, and even at many of the two year community colleges. Most medical schools will require you to have taken one year of Biology with lab, one year of General Chemistry with lab, one year of Organic Chemistry with lab, one semester of Biochemistry, one year of Physics with lab, and one year of English literature and composition. This means that many pre-med students major in a biological science or chemistry because the courses required for those majors include the pre-med requirements.
What state do you live in, and how much can your family afford to pay for your education? Chances are that at least one of the public universities in your state has a decent theater program where you could do the equivalent of a minor in MT while majoring in whatever you see fit and completing the pre-med coursework.
1 Like
One small addition/correction–beside the science classes that @happymom1 lists above, you’ll also need two semesters of college level mathematics, one of which should be a statistics or biostatistics class. Stats is now an admissions requirement at the majority of med schools , no to mention that stats is tested heavily on the MCAT.
Additionally, there is an entire section of the MCAT devoted to the Foundation of [Human] Behavior and tests topics in psychology and sociology. Many medical school now have a social science requirement to fulfill for admission.
Pre-med requirements take up more of your class schedule (50+ credits) than a minor (32 credits) would
2 semester bio w/ lab–8 credits
2 semester gen chem 2/lab–8 credits
2 semester ochem w/labs --8 credits
2 semesters physics w/lab --8 credits
1 semester biochem–3 credits
1 semester statistics --3 credits
1 semester “college level” mathematics --3 credits
1 semester intro psychology–3 credits
1 semester intro sociology --3 credits
2 semesters of “writing intensive” classes or composition-- 6 credits
But pre-meds don’t need to major in anything related to biology or chemistry; all they need to do to fulfill the admissions requirements for med school.
Being a pre-med also mean devoting considerable time to getting the appropriate ECs done, besides taking the right coursework. Without the appropriate ECs, admission committee won’t even consider your application. Pre-med are expected to have: substantial community service w/disadvantaged populations, physician shadowing, clinical experience, leadership positions in their activities and hands-on lab or clinical research experience.
Major or minor in MT if that’s where your passion lies, but be aware that juggling the time commitment required for both MT and pre-med may be difficult.
Also be aware that pre-meds need to take the science-major version of all science & mathematics classes. The non-major version or the allied health science version of science classes will not meet the basic admissions requirements for med school.
1 Like
I’m not trying to dissuade you from your dream of being a surgeon, absolutely go for it. But understand that you are looking at 4 years of college, maybe a gap year or 2, 4 years of med school, 5 years of residency training “just” to be a general surgeon. If you want to subspecialize (eg cardiothoracic surgery), you’re looking at several more years of fellowship training. Expect to say bye bye to your 20s, a large chunk of your 30s. Doing well in college premed reqs/programs help convince med schools that you can handle moderately difficult/hard science courses, something that med students will face on day one. There is little, if anything, that you will do in college to prepare you specifically to be a surgeon.
As you seem to know, med schools don’t care what you major/minor in, or how hard it is, or how time consuming it is. They didn’t tell you to pick psych, or MT , or whatever. Pick something you like because if you like the material you’ll tend to do well GPA wise which is something med schools, in part, care about. Also realize many/most who start as premed never apply and in last cycle approx. 59% of all those that applied did not get even one acceptance anywhere. So it’s important to have a Plan B in mind if you change your mind about med school. Good luck.