upon entering college many students set
out to become medical doctors one thing
that students are often confused about
is what is the best pre-med major and
what is pre-med this video will go over
what it means to be pre-med and the
steps you should take to get into
Medical School
students who have aspirations of
becoming a medical doctor take a
collection of math and science courses
that prepare them for medical school
although there are few schools to have a
specific pre-med major most schools will
not you will just major in something
else like one of the sciences that
prepares you for med school by having
you complete all the prereqs chemistry
and biology majors has historically been
considered the pre-med route however
this is not a requirement in fact med
schools has even seen an increase in the
number of liberal arts majors that apply
to med school beyond just high MCAT
scores and good grades in math and
science admission boards want to see
that a candidate is passionate about
their field of study admission boards
one of the applicants that can think
outside the box think critically have a
passion for problem-solving and meet the
prerequisites for their school as of
2010 the Association of American Medical
Colleges reported that medical schools
accepted 43% of the Biological Sciences
majors 47% of the physical sciences
majors 51% of humanities majors and 45%
of social science majors one of the
reasons why so many applicants apply as
biology majors is simply because they
find biological sciences very
interesting and it's convenient because
of its overlap with med school
requirements provided you meet the
prerequisites and do well in all of your
core classes you can major in whatever
interests you most
that being said according the
Association of American Medical Colleges
the five most popular pre-med majors in
2015 to 2016 where Biological Sciences
physical sciences Social Sciences
humanities and other if you decide to
major in Liberal Arts you'll just have
to be a little more creative and how you
fit in your prereq classes if you're
preparing for med school you will need
to take one year of biology with lab one
year of general chemistry with lab one
year of organic chemistry with lab when
you're a physics with lab one year of
English and one semester of calculus
those classes are already included in
majors like biology and chemistry so you
don't need
adds your required courses but again
with liberal arts you have to actively
make sure you add some of those on top
of your required classes and recently
many medical schools such as John
Hopkins University are now requiring
students to complete 24 credit hours of
humanities social and behavior science
courses as mentioned before universities
want to make sure their applicants are
well-rounded communicate well and are
concerned with the human condition not
just the human body humanities courses
give students a broad understanding of
the human condition and increase diverse
cultural understanding and improve the
social environment in our world three
important things to consider are one to
choose a major you enjoy true to
maintain a minimum of a 3.5 GPA with
that major and 3 make sure you can fall
back on your undergraduate major if you
don't go into Medical School
make grades your number one concern it
is important to have a high GPA in order
to be a strong medical school candidate
whatever major you choose make your
performance in the classroom your main
focus if you're planning to go into
medical school right from day one you
need to take college seriously if you
happen to have a bad semester or a low
GPA is important that you show an upward
trend in your academics to show you are
increasingly serious about your studies
you should strive to be an exemplary
student attend all of your classes each
time they meet schedule lots of time for
reading and studying and don't wait to
get help the minute you realize you are
struggling with any of your subjects
your grades and biology chemistry
physics math abbreviated by BC p.m. are
greatly important and if your grades are
not high enough your application will
not even make it through the first round
of cuts keep in mind that medical
schools are incredibly competitive and
even the most accepting universities
only accept 8% of applicants this is an
important statistic to keep in mind to
keep you focused on your goal remind
yourself that med school specifically
have the pre-med coursework as weed out
courses in order to guarantee a high
quality applicant so now in terms of
letters of recommendation as you go
through college you should begin
identifying college professors you enjoy
learning from and do your best to get to
know them and learn if they are
accessible to offer guidance or answer
questions you will eventually need
letters of recommendation from
Jools who know you and your work and one
of your professors might agree to write
such a letter look for opportunities to
meet alumni who have gone on to medical
school or those who are working now as
physicians you can learn a lot about
what to expect in medical school by
talking to someone who has been there
themselves your fourth year in college
is also a good time to start putting
together a draft of your resume we
ending up to putting together your
resume you should get involved on your
campus and community and look for
opportunities that can develop personal
leadership research and clinical skills
it is highly recommended you join any
pre health career clubs on your campus
and get on the mailing list so you'll
receive notices about events and
activities approach the campus health
clinic to look for volunteer positions
there and if your school has a research
facility check for opportunities to
assist in some way beyond just
volunteering med school admission boards
want you to show that you engage in
leadership roles as a part of your
volunteer experience you can gather
information on how to build a strong
resume using search engines business
forums career centers or pay experts to
help you draft your resume in addition
is important you properly prepare for
your interview with the Medical School
Review Board you want to show that you
have done your research display why you
would be a good candidate for their
school and remain calm and well-spoken
the best way to feel confident for these
interviews is by preparing your answers
ahead of time and rehearsing with your
family and friends lastly you want to
keep up to date on upcoming requirements
and deadlines that are part of the med
school applications process you will
want to take the MCAT your junior year
there are two factors to consider when
deciding on the timing of your medical
college admissions test whether you plan
to take the exam more than once and how
prepared you feel if you think you might
want to take the test more than once
plan to make your first attempt before
May 1st of your junior year this will
give you plenty of time to get your
scores and make a decision about
retesting some of you might be thinking
what if I'm not prepared yet if you
don't feel prepared academically or
there are elements in your personal life
that are making it difficult for you to
focus put your efforts into your
coursework and on getting in a good
place mentally for the test it would be
perfectly fine if you waited until June
or July to take the exam even people who
take the exam in August can apply during
that cycle overall when prepare
for med school is important to plan
ahead do well in school and don't wait
until the last minute on important
deadlines if you liked this video don't
forget to comment like and subscribe and
I'll see you all next time