Pre-Med at Duke

<p>I am almost positive that I want to attend medical school; however, I am unsure as to what undergraduate major to pursue. I love the science field, yet if I decide not to attend medical school, I want a good fallback position.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to handle this situation? What are some good majors to look into that won’t cause an overabundance of work with a pre-med track? Any comments/suggestions on the Duke pre-med track?(I already know its great)</p>

<p>All of these new threads are making me nauseous ;)</p>

<p>Bahamain- I think you need to take a serious look at the way you respond to people's posts... you tend to have a very unorthodox sense of humor that is more insulting that funny...and this is but one of many such situations.</p>

<p>Funny that you say that, i was saying that to myself when i read it over...ill try to control that,thinking before speaking (or typing in this case) is what i should be practising.</p>

<p>What was wrong with Bahamain's post? I mean, it didnt accomplish anything, but it sure wasnt insulting...</p>

<p>To nckid: Obviously the most popular pre-med major is Biology, but thats because it fulfills all of the pre-med requirements with its own major requirements...It doesnt really matter what you major in (to a certain extent), if you take all of the required "pre-med" courses you can apply to med school...I am sure Duke has a pre-Health department that advises pre-med kids through undergrad</p>

<p>I am merely attempting to bring to bahamian's attention that he should be more careful with his humor and like i said, this is only one instance. There are plenty more in other threads. I just thought something needed to be said and i think this subject should be dropped here.</p>

<p>Yep, i agree...anyway, it wasnt that big of a deal; he has a right to voice his opinion...</p>

<p>Well, you can major in anything you could possibly imagine and go on to medical school, as you probably know. The good news is, that you'll have almost 2 years to decide (if you go to Duke, and many other schools too). Trying to decide now is largely pointless, unless you are debating an engineering major, in which case you would want to start early and be in Pratt (again, this is if you end up at Duke, of course.)</p>

<p>I understand your anxiousness though. I always want to think "Ok my major is now ____, and that's that." But it rarely turns out that way. I'm still trying to decide on a major.</p>

<p>As for the Duke premed track, it's exactly the same as every other school's (that doesn't have a specific premed major). You take the courses that the medical schools that you're considering tell you to take, it's not determined by Duke, per se.</p>

<p>Really the best way to approach this is not to restrict yourself too early. Don't go into freshman year thinking "ok I want a bio major" and then take a bio seminar, bio-related writing course, intro bio, and intro chem or something like that. If you think you're interested in a major, try the intro class for that major but also just think of your interests and take a few classes in something else. In my experience, trying to categorize yourself as a student in a specific major at this time just doesn't make sense.</p>

<p>As for practical majors for backups, maybe think about Econ, Public Policy, Poli Sci, any of the sciences, and of course engineering. But don't force yourself into something you don't like just because it's practical. Give this time.</p>

<p>Caramba, do u know Peter Blair III? he's another Bahamian at Duke, in his Junior Year, he's dark and has a large afro.</p>