When starting your pre-med journey, do not feel like you have to major in biology, biomedical sciences, etc. It helps to have the courses required for medical school applications already included in your coursework. However, in most cases, you will have plenty of flexibility across your four years of undergraduate school to take additional courses outside the sciences. I highly recommend at least a minor in something unrelated to medicine because this adds to your character and diversifies your background. It also gives you something to talk about during interviews since it is something unique that interviewers will remember you for. I recall that interviewers asked me about my political science major in every interview that I attended. Of course, this does mean you will have to work on eloquently explaining your interest in another subject area and relating it to how it will help you become a better physician.
Once you decide on medicine, the next step is deciding what route you want to pursue: allopathic or osteopathic. You may already know that medical doctors in the United States have an MD or a DO degree. I chose to apply to DO schools to become an osteopathic medicine physician because I have always been interested in the body-mind-spirit connection and wanted to learn an additional tool called osteopathic manipulative medicine not taught at MD schools. Before deciding to apply to one or the other (or maybe a mix of both), learn more about the osteopathic distinction by visiting osteopathic.org or listening to my episodes about osteopathic medicine. You should know that osteopathic medical schools may have additional requirements for the application, such as requiring a letter of recommendation from a DO physician. Otherwise, the competitiveness is similar to MD school admissions. If you are applying to DO schools, talk about osteopathic medicine in your application, like sharing how you learned about osteopathic medicine or why osteopathic medicine particularly appeals to you.
The pre-med journey is often a long and difficult one. Early in my journey, I was discouraged by many of my mentors, but I am so glad I did not listen to them. In particular, I felt crushed because of my low science GPA. I entered college with many AP credits from high school, which placed me in organic chemistry during my first semester. The transition from high school to college was tough for me, which many students can relate to. Despite passing classes without any withdrawals, my science GPA was still nowhere near what it needed for medical school admission. Many mentors recommended I think about a plan B or drop my candidacy altogether, but I knew I wanted to be a doctor. I was willing to put in the work I needed to get there. I continued to work hard on improving my GPA and science GPA, but it still ended up around the lower end because of my rough first year. Knowing I could only raise it so much, even with straight As, I ensured I did well on the MCAT and gained plenty of clinical experience, enabling me to receive an acceptance at every school I interviewed with, including at my top choice school.
Listen to the related episode of First Line for more about my story.
Not sure if a career in medicine is right for you? Read my post here.
Read more about my pre-med journey here.
Read more about osteopathic medicine here.