<p>I have been looking through many posts on the bs/md program for quite a while now, however I find many not to be very informative. Also some threads are old so I am here to start a fresh one. Please do not get me wrong when I say other threads are not informative. If you happen to know a better existing thread similar to this, please direct me to it. I have a couple of questions myself...</p>
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<li>Schools that aren't ranked very well have bsmd programs. Would you rather choose their program over a better 4 year undergrad school? Ex: UPenn vs. Penn state</li>
<li>I plan to work at any 'big' hospital in the future. Would I get a good position by graduating from bsmd or with full undergrad+premed etc...?</li>
<li>If I am set and know I want to be in medical school (and I am a well rounded student) would it be best for me to go through the 'process' or have it in directly?</li>
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<p>I may have questions in the future regarding bsmd and premed. For now I would love to have a perspective of a bsmd student or anyone who applied for it and what they were thinking while applying for the program.</p>
<p>Not a med student but I looked into it before. </p>
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<p>Have to get into it first. Even BSMD programs at average schools are still very competitive. Also have to get into the top school too, as they’re just as if not more competitive. There’s plenty of threads on here telling you to go where you “fit.” If you’re in BSMD, you’re gonna have to maintain a certain GPA so you need to think about what kind of school you want to go to so you can be successful. Ask yourself if you would be happy at the BSMD school without being in BSMD.</p>
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<p>Either way you become a doctor which qualifies you to work at a big hospital. See if a desired school is close to a big hospital and if the program has any connections with the hospital so you can do shadowing and stuff like that there to see if that’s what you actually want. After residency is when you’ll get to pick where you work and BSMD or normal route has absolutely no bearing on this. </p>
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<p>Most BSMD programs are 6-7 years, so you’re going to be taking more credit hours each semester with lots of hard science classes. Is that something you want? With normal route, you can major in anything and take as many or as little sciences as you want as long as you get the pre-reqs in and will have a normal semester load. Neither is better…they’re just different ways of going about it. Either way you’re gonna have to make the grades and if you’re destined to become a doctor…there will be a way to become one. </p>
<p>Might want to look at schools with early assurance programs. It’s kind of like a happy medium between BSMD and normal route - you usually apply for early assurance towards the end of your second year and you can get accepted to your undergrad school’s medical school. They want to see good grades and good shadowing experience, etc. and you still go 4 years at your undergrad school. Georgetown has this and I plan to apply for it.</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful. If someone has more experience than me and disagrees with something I said, please correct me. :)</p>
<p>Ivy league med school professor here. This is a very complex issue and you will need to do a lot of information-gathering. We do not have this type of program at our school, and will not do so in the near future, as I think it serves only a small minority of applicants well. Sorry for long post, but I wanted to be as complete as possible.</p>
<p>PROS of BS/MD program
Guaranteed med school acceptance, assuming ability to maintain the set gpa. No need to waste time in senior yr of college filling out apps, going on interviews, etc, which can be expensive and distracting while one should still be immersed in college learning. </p>
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<li><p>Can take a wide range of courses, learn new ways of thinking without worrying too much about gpa. This is why Brown U has always had this program. Nowadays, successful med school applicants usually need very high gpa’s and the high gpa often comes by avoiding subjects outside one’s comfort zone.</p></li>
<li><p>Even If MCAT’s required by BS/MD, no need to get a tippy top score. Some students spend too much time studying for test - time better spent on reading Shakespeare, learning music theory, art history, etc that a student may not ever get a chance to do in their lives.</p></li>
<li><p>If In-state school, may be a very good financial deal for all 7 or 8 years. Some of the programs also shorten the total course of study, decreasing total tuition. Many elite students who do not want to go to their state flagship undergrad feel entirely differently if they are admitted into the BS/MD program. </p></li>
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<p>CONS
I am not sure many 17 or 18yo have any idea what they want to do with their lives and have no idea of the commitment, lifestyle, etc that goes with being a physician. In many cases, students who “like Bio” think they need to become MD’s, while in reality, being an MD is so much more about communication and professionalism skills than it is about being smart and liking HS Bio. In addition, if a student wants to “help people” in a medical way, there are many fields where one can accomplish the same goals, but may not be top of mind to avg HS kid. Everything from speech therapy, to physical therapy, to occupational therapy, to social worker to PA, to nurse midwife, to nurse anesthetist to APRN, to psychologist, podiatrist, optometrist, etc. Yes, I went to med school, but only after I graduated college and worked in a state psych hospital for a few years and realized that I wanted the MD instead of the psych PhD. I then had to do a post-bac to take all my pre med classes. But I had no idea what I wanted to do as an 18yo HS student. People can drop out of these programs, but I have also seen people get tunnel vision once admitted into these programs.</p>
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<li><p>Students in these programs sometimes become too complacent about their studies since they are already into medical school and they fail to study enough to get the min gpa or to learn the material. Sometimes, the fear of a bad organic chem grade was just the motivation I needed to study on a saturday night during my post bac when I had a newborn baby, a job and was taking classes. </p></li>
<li><p>While some of these are at very esteemed schools, many are not. It is a great way for the less competitive places to attract top students who might otherwise do the HYPSM UG thing. There are now significantly more med students than there are residency slots, and though the top of the class will generally do well no matter where they go to med school, there are some US med students who are going unmatched for residency slots, especially in competitive specialties like ortho, neurosurg, derm, plastics etc. Coming from a second or third tier medical school may very well impact where or if a student matches for residency. </p></li>
<li><p>These programs are often VERY hard to get into. Unless one has a “hook” - a very big hook. Like crawled across the Atlantic Ocean at the age of 3 months, curing HIV and cancer along the way. And for OOS students, these programs even at public institutions, are very expensive and one might miss a chance to attend one’s own flagship for either UG or med school. </p></li>
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<p>For speaking to my mother, a doctor herself, i have decided to take the regular route. She thinks that the BS/MD would restrict you and tie you down. No location change for so many years. Also, you are locked in that program and if you made it into a better program, you would not be able to accept it.</p>
<p>I think you are underrating the quality of some of the schools that have BS/MD programs. Rice/Baylor, Brown, Case Western, BU are all very good combinations.</p>
<p>Update Question: If you are a current bsmd student, could you please take the time and share how it is for you, how you applied, did you get any aid. Thank you for those who replied, you’re answers were quite helpful.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids this leads to my next question: What is the benefit from attending a prestigious medical school? Or better What can be a benefit from a prestigious medical school? </p>
<p>The so-called prestigious med schools are best for those who are doing the MD/PhD route…for everyone else, there isnt really a reason. All US MD schools teach the same thing…the education is flat.</p>
<p>med schools are not like undergrads…and their rankings are different, too. and, med schools have two rankings…one for Research (again, important to those MD/PhD students) and one for Primary Care.</p>
<p>Unranked MD schools are excellent. All US MD schools are excellent.</p>
<p>There is absolutely an advantage to going to a prestigious medical school. See #3 in the cons in my long post above. I do know that some of these BS/MD programs are offered at top notch med schools, but many are offered at second or third tier med schools. I would avoid an OOS lower tier med school in one of these programs is all I am saying. It would be more expensive than one’s flagship and it is sometimes hard to get a residency position in competitive specialties such as ortho, neurosurgery, dermatology, ophtho, etc. esp if one is not in top of class from a lower tier med school. </p>
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