You're in high school and have determined you want to become a doctor. There are two
paths in front of you. Go to college, take the MCAT, and hopefully get into medical school,
or go the BS/MD route, shortening your training and streamlining the process.
Should you go BS/MD or the traditional path? I'll help you decide.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
It's common knowledge that the path to becoming a doctor is one with countless hoops to jump
through. To streamline the journey, a number of medical schools now offer early admission pathways
through combined bachelor and medicine degree programs — that's either a BS or BA combined
with an MD or DO through a single acceptance. For many students and their concerned parents,
these programs are a relief from the uncertainty of the traditional drawn out process.
The most commonly talked about benefit is the fact that many combined degree
programs accelerate the process. Traditionally, earning your bachelor's degree takes 4 years,
and medical school is another 4 as well, for a total of 8. A large number of BS/MD programs
stick to the 8 year timeline, but many truncate it to 7, and a couple even to 6, with the shortening
primarily coming from the bachelor degree portion. However, note that some of these programs require
taking summer courses in order to cram an undergraduate education into 3 or fewer years,
which many find worthwhile considering the tuition savings and fewer years spent in school.
Second, there's no medical school application process,
which is a point many celebrate. Transitioning from undergraduate university to medical school
is a painless process, so long as you meet a minimum GPA requirement, which is
lower than what you'd be aiming for if you were applying to medical school the traditional way.
Not only does that mean you entirely avoid the time intensive and stressful process of
applying to medical school, but you'll also save thousands of dollars, as the application process
is not cheap. Note, however, that if you are in financial need, you may qualify for the AAMC FAP,
or fee assistance program, to cover some of these out of pocket expenses.
Third, the dreaded MCAT. Many BS/MD programs either do not require you to take the MCAT
at all to continue on to medical school, or they have a score cutoff that's lower than
their general matriculant. Again, you're saving big on time, money,
and stress related to preparing for such an important test. Most students take between
3 and 6 months to study for the MCAT, spend hundreds to thousands of dollars,
and you'll be hard pressed to find someone who didn't find the process highly stressful.
And last, BS/MD programs lift a weight off your shoulders.
While your premed colleagues going the traditional route are stressing about
trying to achieve straight A's or strategizing on their extracurriculars and research time,
you'll have a streamlined and lower stress experience. Sure, you'll still have to take the
standard medical school prerequisite courses, such as biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry,
physics, and the like, but you won't have to take several additional classes to fulfill a specific
major's requirements. And again, you don't have to apply to medical school with a near perfect GPA,
as long as you meet your program’s cutoffs, which is often around 3.5.
While the benefits are easy to appreciate, they're more short term focused. When you
zoom out and take a step back, you'll begin to notice some of the more substantial drawbacks of
BS/MD programs that make them a less optimal choice for many aspiring future physicians.
Perhaps the most significant and noteworthy drawback to BS/MD programs is the fact that
it requires students to commit to a lifelong career before having adequate exposure and
maturity to realistically make a well reasoned decision. Think about it — at 16, 17, or 18,
with limited exposure to various career paths, they're fully committing to one
that's incredibly arduous, challenging, and difficult to escape once you're in it.
I'll remind you that medicine is certainly not for everyone, as doctors have some of
the highest rates of burnout and depression. This is in part due to the massive mismatch
between public perception and the reality of being a physician — a mismatch I strive
to resolve between this and my other YouTube channel. This drawback cannot be overstated,
and making such a decision as a teenager should be done with caution.
It's no secret that many BS/MD programs are at institutions looking to lock in apprehensive
applicants who would probably not look their way if encountered in the regular application
cycle. The students typically accepted into BS/MD programs are ambitious,
and generally have options to attend other highly ranked traditional universities. If
these students weren't capable of getting into that medical school on their own,
the medical school would have little incentive to maintain the BS/MD program.
The winner in the BS/MD contract is more so the school than the student.
Many of these students find themselves applying out of the same medical school for which they
obtained early admission in, because they realize they can gain acceptance into a highly ranked
medical school or one that provides higher value to them, whether that be in location,
cost, or other factors we've discussed in our video on choosing the best medical school for you.
And while the politically correct thing to say is that all medical school are equal and provide
the same education, at Med School Insiders we care more about the facts than your feelings.
There are distinct advantages and disadvantages tied to school ranking and prestige.
If you go the BS/MD route, you'll be missing out on a more typical college experience.
And as most college graduates will tell you, college can be the catalyst to some of the most
transformative years of your life. You owe it to yourself to search out the best environment
for personal growth and development. Is the university associated with the BS/MD program
the best for you, or some other university in the traditional pathway? Where are you more likely
to connect with people that will help you grow, learn, and serve as valuable allies in the future?
Just as important, it's crucial you understand that not all stress is bad. Healthy amounts
of stress are conducive to growth. By going down the BS/MD path, you'll be less likely to
develop the key study strategies and productivity tactics required to operate at the highest level,
simply due to the fact that you'll have it easier. You won't have the same pressure to perform at the
highest level in your classes or to crush your MCAT. That means when you start medical school,
your study strategies won't be as strong as they would have been going down the traditional path.
Reflecting on my own time in college, it was the necessity of doing the best I could
that pushed me to grow, explore my limits, and achieve more than I thought possible.
I overshot my MCAT score goal and reached the elusive 99.9th percentile,
which not only helped me hone my focus and test taking skills, but also instilled genuine
confidence in myself that I could exceed even my own expectations. This was a priceless intangible
lesson that gave me the momentum to keep pushing myself further in medical school. And believe it
or not, studying for the MCAT also taught me that learning and studying intensely could actually
be enjoyable, which obviously had a multitude of beneficial compounding effects downstream.
BS/MD programs are a fast track path for high performing students who are
absolutely certain they want to attend medical school and become a doctor.
While the benefits are often highlighted, one should not overlook their drawbacks.
There's no right or wrong here, as this is a highly personal decision.
If you need help deciding on the BS/MD path or strengthening your application,
visit us on MedSchoolInsiders.com. Our philosophy is to do right by the customer and offer
as much value as possible, with the idea that if we stick to that as our north star,
the business side will take care of itself. Following this principle,
we've blown up in popularity with now over 2900 customers, over half of which were in the
last year alone. What's more, we consistently have industry leading satisfaction rates and
student success. Learn more about the Med School Insiders difference at MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Thank you all so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video,
you'll enjoy my videos about deciding on a medical school or
why you should be cautious of your college premed advisors. Much love, and I'll see you guys there.