It's a valid question - Why go the BS/MD route over the traditional pre-med route? (Thanks to Amy for the question). We'll go over some of the factors you'll want to consider.
The direct medical program route is for those that KNOW they want to become a doctor. These programs provide a strong assurance that you'll be accepted into medical school than the traditional route. With the combined BS/MD medical program route, all you need to do is maintain your program's requirements (GPA, volunteer hours, perhaps a minimum MCAT score) and then - like magic - you've gained admission into a medical school.
With the traditional route, you'll have to work extremely hard to make sure you have a great extracurricular experience (volunteering, research, leadership, etc) as well as a great GPA and awesome MCAT score - and even with that, you STILL aren't necessarily a guaranteed spot into a medical school. So many people have to take gap years after their undergraduate to further boost their resume!
Let's face it - straight medical programs aren't known by many. Thus, the number of people applying are far less than the number of people applying to medical school. Even adjusting for the fact that there are less spots nationally in straight medical programs versus medical schools nationally, one has a higher chance of getting into straight medical programs over medical schools through the traditional route.
While we can go on and on about this - including whether or not an IVY league pre-med education is better than the BS/MD route (and we do in our 2nd edition of the BS/MD book we'll have available on this website) - just know that if you want to pursue a career in medicine, the BS/MD path is the most guaranteed way. Some would say the most guaranteed way is the best way.
The direct medical program route is for those that KNOW they want to become a doctor. These programs provide a strong assurance that you'll be accepted into medical school than the traditional route. With the combined BS/MD medical program route, all you need to do is maintain your program's requirements (GPA, volunteer hours, perhaps a minimum MCAT score) and then - like magic - you've gained admission into a medical school.
With the traditional route, you'll have to work extremely hard to make sure you have a great extracurricular experience (volunteering, research, leadership, etc) as well as a great GPA and awesome MCAT score - and even with that, you STILL aren't necessarily a guaranteed spot into a medical school. So many people have to take gap years after their undergraduate to further boost their resume!
Let's face it - straight medical programs aren't known by many. Thus, the number of people applying are far less than the number of people applying to medical school. Even adjusting for the fact that there are less spots nationally in straight medical programs versus medical schools nationally, one has a higher chance of getting into straight medical programs over medical schools through the traditional route.
While we can go on and on about this - including whether or not an IVY league pre-med education is better than the BS/MD route (and we do in our 2nd edition of the BS/MD book we'll have available on this website) - just know that if you want to pursue a career in medicine, the BS/MD path is the most guaranteed way. Some would say the most guaranteed way is the best way.
RSS Feed