Premedical Preparation
Basically, there are three types of premedical students. The first is the most familiar. They knew they were going to be physicians from the very beginning. At age two, they were playing with stethoscopes. In high school, they chose a college based on how it would affect their medical school acceptance. The second and probably largest group are those who decided to undertake the quest for medical school in their undergraduate years. The third group consists of people who decided on med school after college graduation—and sometimes after being established in another career. So it’s not too surprising that many premedical student are conscious (almost paranoid) about the most minor details of their undergraduate curriculum. The unfortunate reality is that the paranoia is unfounded. It’s based on pervasive myths spread by other premedical students, not on the true details that admissions committees consider important.
So what is important? At the risk of over-simplifying, you must have (or create) a quality that makes you stand out from the pack. Standing out is another way of saying that you are “interesting,” and “interesting” is what medical schools go for.
Once you decide to pursue medical school, it’s essential that you remain you. It’s okay to explore your talents and curiosity in college (indeed, we heartily recommend it). Go ahead and learn to scuba dive or take a course on Emily Dickinson, if that’s what you’d like to do. With this philosophy, you need not worry about the person next to you all the time, and you’ll be much more relaxed. If you want to become a “doctor to the stars” in Hollywood, get a degree in business or, better yet, film. Don’t laugh! Patients want to be able to relate to their doctors.
If you are like most premedical students, you probably don’t know what kind of doctor you want to become. So our advice is simple: major in whatever interests you.
While different in many ways, all three groups share two common misconceptions. First, they think that just because medicine draws upon science, every premed should major in biology or chemistry. Second, they think the quality of their college and their major are decisive factors in their admission to medical school.
In fact nothing could be further from the truth, Because the spectrum of physicians is so broad, there is no preferred major to enter the medical profession. In some cases, the quality of the undergraduate university can affect your chances of admission to medical school, but usually it’s irrelevant. (An important exception are undergraduate colleges that have an affiliated medical school. More on this later.)