premed and prepharm?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>hello. i plan on entering a 6yr prog for pharmacy, which i understand is 2 yrs of undergrad and 4 yrs of pharm school. but really, i see this as my backup. actually, i want to pursue a field in medicine, and so im wondering that within my 2 yrs of undergrad, is it possible for me to fulfill the course requirements of premed w/o committing suicide? or is this just not possible? and would my gpa even be worthy or high enough to apply to med school?</p>

<p>all in all, i wouldnt mind having either profession, but when it comes to choosing between the two, i would much prefer medicine, and im just wondering if its possible to fit in premed curriculum within that 2 yr period i have as an undergraduate and then applying to med school instead of pharm school. if i dont make med school, then id go to pharm school.</p>

<p>and as a side question, is pharamcy school hard to get into? i know some 6 yr progs arent a definite prepharm to pharm school type thing.</p>

2

<p>Many if not most med-schools require that you have a bachelor's degree before applying. Some will allow you to apply with just 3 years of college units (but no degree), but you will be at a severe admissions disadvantage. Med-school is already extremely difficult to get into, and if you don't have a bachelor's degree, you will be behind the 8ball.</p>

<p>I would also point out that while pharmacy programs formally require only 2 years of college work to apply, you can't just complete the 2 years of required prepharm work and then expect to waltz into pharm school. Admissions is highly competitive. Most people who apply to pharmacy programs have at least 3 years of college credits and many will have completed their bachelor's degrees or even higher. You will be competing against them for admissions spots. </p>

<p>For example, here is what the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy has to say:
""We strongly urge that applicants complete the requirements for the Bachelor's Degree (B.A. or B.S.) prior to matriculation to the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Applicants who have not earned a degree or who will not have earned one prior to matriculation, will only be considered if they have exceptional academic performance and evidence of outstanding leadership potential. "</p>

<p><a href="http://pharmacy.ucsd.edu/admissions.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://pharmacy.ucsd.edu/admissions.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>USC: "Is a bachelor's degree required?
No, but because admission to the program is very competitive, we highly recommend having a bachelor's degree. The majority of our applicants hold this degree. "</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usc.edu/schools/pharmacy/pharmd/admission/faqs.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usc.edu/schools/pharmacy/pharmd/admission/faqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Minnesota "62% of admitted students possess a Bachelor's degree, and less than 5% complete the prerequisites in two years. "</p>

<p><a href="http://www.pharmacy.umn.edu/pharmd/admissions/advise/home.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.pharmacy.umn.edu/pharmd/admissions/advise/home.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Here is a snippet from the LA Times:</p>

<p>"Technically, you may not need a bachelor's degree to get into a Pharm.D. program. But most students applying for pharmacy school do have a bachelor's degree, generally with a major in a science-related field."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/classified/jobs/counselor/la-counselor-072205,0,4810786.htmlstory?coll=la-class-employ-counselor%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.latimes.com/classified/jobs/counselor/la-counselor-072205,0,4810786.htmlstory?coll=la-class-employ-counselor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
and as a side question, is pharamcy school hard to get into? i know some 6 yr progs arent a definite prepharm to pharm school type thing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think the above answers your question. Pharmacy school admissions is highly competitive and getting more competitive over time. I don't know exactly which program you have gotten admitted to, but if it's not one of those special combined pharmacy programs, where you are guaranteed admission to a pharm school, then you should not assume that you will automatically get into one.</p>

3

<p>Im still a little confused. Say one was to go to the Albany College Of Pharmacy which is said to be a 6 year cource. Is a student only guaranteed 2 years of schoolinf there, followed by another admissions process?</p>

4

<p>I am not sure, but I think that that Albany program that you are referring to is one of those integrated combined programs which guarantees you admission to the pharmacy school. So basically, it combines both the 2 years of required prepharm coursework with the actual pharmacy school itself. </p>

<p>What I am saying is that most pharmacy schools don't offer this. Most pharmacy schools offer just the 4-year PharmD program itself. Take UCSF Pharm, which is arguably the best pharm school in the country. You have to complete the prepharm coursework at some other school and then apply to the pharmacy school with no guarantee that you will get admitted. And like I said, many if not most successful candidates to these schools will have more than just the 2 years of minimum prepharm coursework. In the case of UCSF, nearly 96% of admitted students have bachelor's degrees.</p>

<p><a href="http://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/pharmd/admissions/aboutstudents/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/pharmd/admissions/aboutstudents/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>You can absolutely complete your premed requirements in 2 years. Take intro bio and gen chem along w/ English and Calc your freshman year and then physics and orgo your sophomore year.</p>

6

<p>Allright, let me clarify.</p>

<p>It is true that you can complete your premed 'requirements' in 2 years. But that, by itself, doesn't make you eligible for med-school. Like I said, most med-schools require that you have a bachelor's degree before you matriculate. </p>

<p>As an example, take Johns Hopkins Medical:</p>

<p>"The bachelor’s degree is required for all students attending The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Confirmation of the bachelor’s degree, as indicated on an official college transcript, must be received prior to the start of enrollment in the first year class."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/admissions/apps.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/admissions/apps.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For those that don't, they usually require units up to the college junior level. </p>

<p>For example, here is what UCSF Medical (not UCSF Pharmacy, but UCSF Medical) has to say about it.</p>

<p>"We strongly recommend that premedical students pursue a four-year undergraduate curriculum and obtain a baccalaureate degree before entering medical school.</p>

<p>However, we only require completion of three years (135 quarter units or 90 semester units) of acceptable transfer college credit from an accredited institution, including the required college-level courses listed below. Only 105 acceptable quarter units can be transferred from a junior or community college."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/apply/gettingstarted.aspx#courserequiremnts%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/apply/gettingstarted.aspx#courserequiremnts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Of course, given how competitive it is to get into UCSF Medical, I wouldn't hold my breath in waiting to be admitted without a bachelor's degree, for I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of applicants will have a degree.</p>

7

<p>Reread the original post...yea, there are very very few schools that will allow you to apply after your sophomore year. 99% of med schools require a bachelor's degree.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
99% of med schools require a bachelor's degree.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well, it's not quite THAT extreme. Keep in mind that there are only about 120 or so allopathic med-schools in the US, and about 20 or so osteopathic med schools. Off the top of my head, I can name 4 medical schools (UCSF, UCDavis, UCI, and UCSD) that do not strictly require a bachelor's degree.</p>

<p><a href="http://registrar.ucdavis.edu/UcdWebCatalog00_02/WebCatFrt/med/med.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://registrar.ucdavis.edu/UcdWebCatalog00_02/WebCatFrt/med/med.htm&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.editor.uci.edu/05-06/hs/hs.4.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.editor.uci.edu/05-06/hs/hs.4.htm&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/apply/gettingstarted.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.medschool.ucsf.edu/admissions/apply/gettingstarted.aspx&lt;/a>
<a href="http://meded.ucsd.edu/Catalog/curriculum/application.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://meded.ucsd.edu/Catalog/curriculum/application.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>But in any case, at least 4 schools don't require a degree, hence even if every single other one did, that would mean a maximum of 136/140 or 97% would require it. And I'm sure there's gotta be many more that don't formally require a degree. </p>

<p>I do agree that the vast majority do require a degree. Furthermore, like I said, even for the schools that don't formally require a degree, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to get in if I didn't have a degree. Admissions to a UC Medical school is hard enough even if you do have a degree, imagine how hard it will be if you don't.</p>

9

<p>ahh, i see. wow, thanks for clarifying. now i know its possible to do premed curriculum while doing prepharm.</p>

<p>ok, so lets say, instead of just 2 yrs of undergrad during prepharm, i do 3-4 yrs of undergrad in order to get a degree. what kind of degree would this be? would this be a chemistry major or is there some sort of prepharm/pharm degree?</p>

10

<p>The degree would be in whatever the undergrad school allows it to be. Some schools offer a "prepharm" or pharm bachelor's, although most don't, and even if you did get one, you are not going to be able to actually practice pharmacy with it. The old BPharm degree is being phased out as of next year. </p>

<p>You can get a degree in anything as long as you fulfill your premed/prepharm requirements along the way. I've known people with English and other humanities degrees who have gotten into medical school.</p>

11

<p>ahh, okay. thank you. i think all my questions have been answered. now. =)</p>