Hi, I was just wondering about the process of getting into a graduate medical school. I know you have to be on a pre-med track, but what does that mean? I looked up top pre med schools, and I had trouble finding a clear answer. Could you guys explain to the process of getting into a medical school, and also what are some top undergrad schools that will help you get into a good graduate medical school.
Thanks
Pre med merely means that you take certain specific courses and usually register with a pre med advisor. the required courses for medical school can be found on every college website.
You can major in biology, dance or history as long as you take the required sequence of courses.
@TomSrOfBoston so you could have a chemical engineering degree along with a medical degree?
Yes
However, note that chemical engineering degree programs may have very little free elective space where you can put the non overlapping pre med courses in your schedule.
Go to the pre-med forum available from the main page and read up.
Google “premed requirements” to get an idea of the coursework you need.
Almost every college has pre-med advisors.
Learn what it takes to get into med school by reading thru the very informative pages at https://www.rhodes.edu/content/health-professions-advising-hpa on the “PreMed Essentials” link. There is also a good handbook at https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/act/gradstudy/health/guide and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.
Asking about “good premed programs” leads many into a trap, since they are told to consider acceptance numbers. For med school admissions the college acceptance numbers are meaningless. Impressive rates boil down to one of two things, great students or screening. It’s no surprise that kids that can get into elite colleges like Stanford or Middlebury do well in med school admissions 4 years later. Or the school aggresively uses their “committee letter” and only recommends the best kids. A regular poster used to chime in on posts like this to recommend one such school, Holy Cross.
Any college in the country offers the lower-division science and math tested on the MCAT. Whether you work work for good grades, get to know some profs so you get strong recs, take part in appropriate ECs, and develop compelling essays is up to you. The best colleges say as much.
The real question to address at this point is not what college, but why an M.D? Have you looked into the medical field and considered the alternatives? From the day you start college it will be 11-15 years before you are a practicing doctor. Its almost a reflex action among HS kids, they think of a career in medicine and its “I’m pre-med!” Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, to name but just a few. Spend a few hours browsing on http://explorehealthcareers.org Unless you’ve considered the alternatives and have spent time actually working in a health care setting (which is an unofficial requirement to get into med school, BTW) its better to think of yourself as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.
HS premed wannabes should read/glance through this recent thread on the parents’ forum
<<<<]
so you could have a chemical engineering degree along with a medical degree?
However, note that chemical engineering degree programs may have very little free elective space where you can put the non overlapping pre med courses in your schedule.
<<<<
My son got his degree in Chemical Engineering and is in med school, so yes.
As for the “very little elective space” to fit non-overlapping premed courses… This is somewhat true, depending on the undergrad you choose. My son’s ChemEng program included a premed track which included all of the premed prereqs. His undergrad accepted AP credits, which made is easy to fulfill the Core/GenEd reqts that most undergrads have.
<<<
some top undergrad schools that will help you get into a good graduate medical school.
<<<<
We don’t really call them “graduate” medical schools. We call them med or medical schools…or professional schools.
there is no need to go to a “top undergrad”. Med schools don’t care which undergrad you went to as long as its accredited and not some unheard of podunk school.
ACTUALLY…a common misstep of many determined premeds is going to a top undergrad. Why? Because all schools “weed” their premeds and top schools are full of premeds that are all top students…so many end up with GPAs that aren’t med school worthy. Med schools do NOT give applicants a pass for a lower GPA just because they went to a top med school.
AND…also importantly…all US med schools are excellent. We don’t have “some” good ones…they’re all very good.
You need to take a set of courses and be in the top 10-20% for each of them. So you won’t be a biology major and you’ll have to do better than future biology majors in your 2 intro biology classes. You won’t be a chemistry major but you’ll have to do better than future chemistry majors in you 4 chemistry classes. If you’re not among the best in every class, you don’t have a med-school worthy GPA and you have to change focus if you want a health career. Fortunately there are lots of health careers. But you have to be on top of your game every single semester.
The classes you’ll have to take: 2 each of English, Biology, Inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics + 1 each of calculus, statistics/biostatistics, biochemistry, sociology, psychology, a diversity-focused class, and if you can neuroscience and/or knowing a language spoken by immigrants (can be done informally through community education and volunteering at a clinic.)
On top of that you have to choose a major - any major - and be excellent at it. You can pick Philosophy, Music, CS, it doesn’t matter as long as you’re among the best in your chosen field.
Just to be pedantic and throw some confusion into everything (although I guess depending on what you’re googling, my saying this could actually be very helpful in terms of why you are having trouble finding information). In medicine: “Graduate Medical Education” does not refer to medical school. It actually refers to residency and beyond. Medical school is known as “Undergraduate Medical Education.” It’s really annoying that medicine uses this language differently than literally every other field.
For example (emphasis mine):
https://meded.ucsd.edu/index.cfm/ugme
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_medical_education
Also this will answer some basic questions: https://www.brown.edu/academics/college/advising/health-careers/faqs