I have been looking at different colleges information when it comes to medical schools and so far they have all been clear aside from one. Harvard University has completely stumped me, maybe it’s all the information and the fact that it is 1:30 in the morning but my brain will not understand the information presented to me. So here is my dilemma!
Say I get accepted to and attend Harvard but eventually I would like to get my M.D. What courses does everyone suggest and how many years do I attend?
I am under the impression that this is how it goes…
Harvard University
-2 to 3 years(to satisfy the General Ed)
(then transfer to the medical program)
Harvard Medical
-4 to 5 years
That is all I am aware of, if I am incorrect or if you have more details for me on this please tell me I would love to know.
You attend Harvard (or any college) as an undergraduate for four years, completing the requirements for a bachelors degree. Any degree is fine, but medical schools do require some minimum basic science classes for consideration, so it’s not uncommon for students to choose a course of study that naturally includes those courses, such as Biology or Chemistry.
Sometime in your Senior year, you make applications to Medical Schools which (if accepted) is another four years of study. That’s where you receive the MD degree, but you effectively can’t practice medicine of any kind without a year of supervised practice called an internship. Specialty practice requires a term called “residency” which is an additional 2 to 5 years.
OP, are you international? As @justonedad said, to become a doctor is much more complicated than you seem to think and this holds for all US medical schools. Even if you get a bachelor’s degree from Harvard the chances are that you will not be admitted to Harvard Medical School when you apply.
Medical school admissions are mostly standardized amongst all undergraduate schools - there aren’t special programs or degrees at Harvard (though Harvard is likely to have very strong pre-medical advising and research opportunities). You simply complete a BA or BS (doesn’t matter which - you could major in Women’s Studies or Biology, or whatever your heart desires), complete standard pre-med perquisite courses that may or may not go toward your degree, like Biology, Calculus, and Organic Chemistry, etc and then you apply to medical school.
This is true for Harvard as it is for East Podunk State College. There’s no siphoning between Harvard and Harvard Med - some Harvard students go to Harvard Med, and some end up at UMass Medical, there’s no actual entry program specialized for the undergraduate school.