<p>I was wondering which majors are similarly related to health and medicine. Biology does not only cover medicine and I'm not interested in the other topics covered. I understand that there are basic courses required for medical school (biology, chemistry, etc.) but i would like to find a major that involves the health related stuff. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Specialized Health Sciences are the only major which performs worse than any of the others, both on the MCAT and in the admissions process. Avoid them at all costs.</p>
<p>Could you back up that statement, BDM?</p>
<p>Divide the applicants by the matriculants to get the admissions percentage. (Inexact but very close.)</p>
<p>I wasn't questioning the statistics, I was just wondering what the reasons are. Why would specialized health majors have lower acceptance/MCAT rates?</p>
<p>My guess is that a lot of them are interested in public health (which is very socio/political as opposed to scientific) and say "hey, why not apply for medical school because my major is related."</p>
<p>Oh. Frankly, it's probably because medicine still relies on a traditional liberal arts curriculum. As we've said over and over again, Verbal Skills (specifically, reading comprehension) comprises almost everything on the MCAT. Science content matters only insofar as it helps your comprehension. Too, most specialized health sciences probably learn a little bit of functional physiology, but they probably don't get a very good foundation in the subjects that are actually tested: biology (including genetics, cell biology), physics, chemistry, organic chemistry.</p>
<p>It has to do with breadth of interests and being a well-rounded human being. Too much emphasis on being immediately focused on one specific thing deprives your education of the multifaceted approach that helps build intellectually capable students. Medical schools have seen this, internalized it, and responded to it.</p>
<p>That and the fact they have by far the lowest MCAT scores (by about 3 points) of any of the majors.</p>
<p>Biomedical Science wouldn't be considered a specialized health science, right?</p>
<p>Sure sounds like one.</p>
<p>Just be careful about this. The problem is the AAMC does not specify exactly what is included in SHS. I have suspected it includes a lot of "vocational" degree programs which are aimed at less academically oriented students. People who are getting degrees to go to work in health care, but generally not as a pathway to advanced degrees. Many nurses, for example, physical therapists, etc. Some of these people do very well in college and are well prepared for medical school. However, most are not in a degree program that has the academic rigor of traditional preprofessional studies, and they may even take less demanding versions of the same courses. </p>
<p>So do not try to predict whether something called "biomedical sciences" is good preparation for med school applications based on the name. Talk to the premed people at your college and ask them whether this program is appropriate. Find out whether they take the same courses as the traditional liberal arts biology, chemistry, biochem, etc majors. If so, then it is probably fine. If not, then perhaps not appropriate.</p>
<p>After all by name one might think "biomedical engineering" is an SHS, but it is hardly a nonacademic major.</p>
<p>ya.. i mean im taking organic, biochem, etc... it's what a lot of premeds at my school take (B.S. program)</p>
<p>If your major consists only of the premed requirements, it's a problem.</p>
<p>If your major has a lot of courses that fall into the Health Sciences section (as defined by AMCAS), then yea your major is a health science major.</p>
<p>What are your opinions/thoughts about the following major at USC called Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies:</p>
<p>it seems like every week on this forum i find im making some major mistake... gotta love the advising at a school with 30k+ students</p>
<p>All I know is that I would be terribly lost and/or misinformed without CC and SDN. It shocks me how little some of the other pre-meds at my school know about the whole process.</p>
<p>SDN is good also?</p>
<p>Eh, be careful with SDN - there is good info there, but you have to sift through a lot of crap to get to it - and don't get freaked out by all the crazy people on there. Its alot like CC in all the crazy pre-meds posting about their supposedly crazy high stats and asking about where they should apply.</p>