Why is Med School so competitive?

Hi! I’m not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but my question is, why is med school so attractive and so competitive to get into?

As an objective and non-invested bystander, it seems like there’s a lot of reasons one wouldn’t go to med school. Here are my reasons:

  1. Pre-med is one of the toughest majors! Not only do you have to be top 20% in class, you're taking tons of hard science classes, lots of memorization, very little time to explore education broadly and develop as a person. Also, add clinical, research, volunteering etc, its a LOT!
  2. Med school is notoriously difficult to get into--I've heard common percentages are in the single digits. If prospective med school students know it is so hard to get in, then it makes sense they will turn to other fields like Pharm, research, something else in STEM instead. Like Econ supply and demand, the supply is too high and demand is low. Why doesnt this happen in med? Some pre-meds should know off the bat that they're unlikely to get into med school, so why are the acceptance rates still so low?
  3. There are other lucrative careers to go into. Why medical school? Why doctor? What is the appeal?
  4. Med school is such a long process, more than any other field, moreover, there is usually lots and lots of debt (not always, but majority), so why do people still want to do it?
  5. Maybe this is just me, but the thought of being totally responsible for the LIFE of someone else, in some cases, is absolutely something that I do NOT want. That terrifies me and there's risk involved. Are there really so many people interested in this type of career?

Maybe the simple answer is that all pre-meds apply to ~20 schools and drives down the admission rates. In that case, my question is moot, but I’d love some insight from anyone experienced in this topic and field and wants to share their opinion

Premed is not a major. You can major in anything in undergrad school as long as you take the requisite courses required for medical school admissions.

Done right, there is plenty of time to develop as a person as explore education fully.

Do you think all Med schools look for is applicants with a singular focus? That’s simply not true.

Your reasoning is “off”. There are plenty of well qualified applicants who don’t get accepted to medical school. There are a limited number of seats…and tons more applicants.

And some folks who start as premed in undergrad DO switch to other fields.

Well…if the student can think of any other profession that would be satisfying, medical school probably isn’t and shouldn’t be their top choice.

Because they can’t see themselves doing anything else.

This is a good reason NOT to apply to medical school.

Most premeds do NOT apply to top 20 schools. At least I don’t think they do.

@WayOutWestMom do you have the statistics for this? And am I off in my response?

To me, it just sounds like you aren’t someone who wants to be a doctor. Not sure why the need to dissect that. I think most people become doctors because they want to help people. But not everyone can or wants to clear all the hurdles to become one.

Attractive because it most often is a very well paying and secure career. Some are called to it because they want to help and care for people, in that particular way. Of course people can also go into healthcare as nurses, PAs, sonographers, dental assistants etc, those don’t pay as well but do require less training, in general.

It’s very competitive to get into med school because residency spots are limited and medical schools take the number of students they do with this in mind. You could get into a political thing about why those spots are so limited, but that’s probably beyond the scope of your question.

I don’t agree that nobody goes through med school against their better judgement. I’ve seen it - people who force themselves through because of family pressure or personal pressure they put on themselves.

I think a lot of people are asking themselves the same question, though, and it’s been noted that interest in the field, especially primary care, is declining. For good reason probably. Plus, we’ve made it so expensive and difficult it’s a huge financial risk for a lot of people who are most interested.

OP - since you mentioned Ivy League in one of your posts, so the simple answer to your question here - the same reason why Ivies are so competitive. Your point #5 indicated you are not suited for medical career, so stay away from “miserable” pre-med.

Let me see if I can answer some of your questions–

  1. I disagree that pre-med is tough major. With the exception of biochem, med school pre-reqs are mostly lower level science classes. Pre meds can and do major in a variety of fields, including non-science fields like humanities, languages, literature, social sciences, engineering, mathematics. The number of med school pre-reqs is relative small–basically a minor. However, med school applicants have to excel in their pre-reqs and be overall strong student academically otherwise they won’t survive the very intense academics of med school wherein a huge amount of material is learned in a very short time.

Adcomms select for students who not only have the necessary academic skills to survive med school, but also display the human qualities that make a good doctor–compassion, empathy, altruism, resilience, persistence, conscientiousness, social responsibility, personal accountability, service to others…

  1. The overall admission rate to med school is about 40%. Specific med schools may have single digit acceptance rates, but if an applicant has a strong application and applies broadly (average 15-25) programs) to both MD and DO programs, they have ~40% chance for admission.

3-4-5) It’s a passion for them. They feel the call to serve. Medicine is a call to service, similar to the call to ministry or the religious life, for most med school applicants. It’s something they have a passion for, a career they cannot see themselves not doing.

I do think many people start college as pre-meds simply because they have not been exposed to other potential careers or there is family pressure to go into medicine, but those that persist feel a genuine passion for the field. Many have other career paths open to them, but they choose to pursue medicine because they simply cannot envision themselves doing anything else in their lives that would be as fulfilling. Ditto for those who leave established careers in finance, banking, consulting, pharmaceuticals, education, engineering, etc.

If you want a detailed look at the kind of student who applies to and is accepted to medical school–look through this document:

[Matriculating Student Questionnaire](https://www.aamc.org/download/485324/data/msq2017report.pdf)

@CCtoAlaska

Actually there is some pretty good data showing that indebtedness has a relatively small impact of the choice of specialty. Most specialty choices are driven by interest, not future income.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/23/641034202/nyus-move-to-make-medical-school-free-for-all-gets-mixed-reviews

https://news.aamc.org/medical-education/article/7-ways-reduce-medical-school-debt/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2652831

https://www.statnews.com/2017/09/05/rising-debt-medical-school/

http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/6/542.full

@WayOutWestMom I meant that a lot of the people most interested in primary care scare themselves out of it before they even get to the point of applying for med school because they are carrying so much undergrad debt. They don’t even get to that point.

@frozenyyogurht

I think part of the reason is that med school applicants tend to think just like hs applicants in that they believe they will not succeed unless they go to an Ivy league college or the “best” med school. As a result just like hs students/Ivies, the “best” med schools get inundated with applicants, and with limited spots available, vast numbers get rejected driving down admission rates into single digits. What most applicants don’t realize is that all US med schools are good schools and can serve as a pathway to whatever career in medicine one might be interested in. Although med schools can tweak their curriculums, there’s sameness to med school training.

Not just a sameness, there’s a mandated uniformity in what’s taught. Methods differ; content does not.

Personally, I’m not a doctor and have never been interested in going into any aspect of the medical field, but I have seen thousands of high school students and the draw for those interested in being a doctor is pretty much the same type of draw other students have for their particular field of choice. Some kids want to be engineers, teachers, tattoo artists, artists, business owners, factory workers, military members, professional sports players, doctors, and probably a gazillion more I could list. Most can’t explain exactly what first drew them to their field of choice, some can. All just “feel” it. Some will keep that drive to get there (any job), others will see other opportunities and take them instead realizing they like it better (plenty even decide that “other” job is becoming a doctor later), and still others will find they really aren’t cut out for what they would ideally like so end up in something else (professional sports is a biggie here, but all fields have those who drop out because they aren’t really cut out for the job).

Put simply, humans are different. What one has a passion for another can’t fathom. It’s good that we have such a variety as it keeps our world going. There are people doing all sorts of jobs when we need/want them there.