Medical Education US

Hello, I am a Biology major but am confused at the kind of responses I get from people when I tell them that I want to go to Med School by majoring in Biology. I decided Biology because I was told by my counselor (who happens to be an MD) that majoring in Biology will help you out a lot more in Med School then if you were to major in Chemistry. I am wondering now, if I made the right decesion, or if I should just major in Pre-Med (which I heard is an actual major). Sorry, im confused and have already taken Bio 1 and 2. What should I major in if I want to do good in Med School.

[ Edited by Admin on 2004/5/29 5:53 ]

I would think it is extremely rare to find a school that has a major in "pre-med" if it exists at all. Pre-med just means that you are anticipating applying to medical school, and that you are taking the required classes to get accepted to medical school - which includes:

1 year biology
1 year general chemistry
1 year physics
1 year organic chemistry

Your actual major is not that important. I have known people who were english majors, history majors, and others who went to medical school.

Biology majors are very common in medical school because if you take all of the premed classes, you are close to meeting the requirements for being a biology major at most schools. Most of the classes in medical school are based on biology, as opposed to chemistry, physics, etc, so taking a lot of biology classes as an undergrad can make the med school classes seem a little easier. The disadvantage is that you may miss out on studying other things as an undergrad that you won't get exposed to in medical school.

I would major in whatever interests you the most, and just make sure you take all the required pre-med classes.