Medical Education US

Hello you guys:

I am new to this forum but what i have read so far seems very interesting and informative and for that i want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this forum!

Now there is something i do want to try to clarify....that is...
Do i HAVE to have a BA before entering Medical School? My girlfriend was able to get into Med School without a degree. She is 30 now like me but she has already gotten her MD and is now in her residency program.

But if i do have to get a BA how many credit hours is a BA? Is it 120?
A BA is about 4 years right? Is there anyway i can speed that up by maybe CLEP'ing some courses or maybe doing summer classes or both night and day classes during a semester?
Does anyone know the limit of classes you can take at one time?
I dont want to take so many though were my grades will be effected.
In my Freshman year i have maintained a 3.5-4.0 GPA...and i want to keep it that way.
In 2006 i will be entering my 2nd year of college.
I need all the help i can get. I am planning on attending USF Medical School, in Tampa, FL.

Thanks

[font=Verdana]Renee White[/font]

You do not need to have an undergraduate degree to get accepted into some medical schools, but I would say it is a very rare person who gets into medical school with an undergrad degree.

Even without a degree, you'd need to make sure you have all of the pre-med courses completed, and that the school is willing to accept you without a degree.

You can possible pass out of some of the required classes if you took AP courses in high school, but I don't think there are any tests you can otherwise take that will count towards college credit hours. Going to summer school is a reasonable way of making up some time, but taking day classes and night classes won't really work - because a full time day schedule will give you plenty of home work to do in the evenings.

I'd suggest you talk to your girlfriend who is in residency now, as she likely knows all the ins and outs of applying to medical school - especially if she did it without getting an undergrad degree.

To be honest, the only people I've known to get into medical school without a degree got accepted right out of high school into a 6 or 7 year combined undergrad/medical school program.

Hi, there:

At my school, I am aware of only two people who were accepted to medical school without an undergraduate degree. Both of them went through a program like the one Dr. Admin described above (a 7-year combined undergrad/medical curriculum)... and they officially earn/ed their BS degree upon completion of the first year of med school. So, actually, while they were accepted and started med school without a bachelor's degree, they still ended up with one.

The nice thing for them was, once they were admitted to the 7-year program, they only had to maintain a reasonably competitive GPA and score fairly well on the MCAT to keep themselves in the program. As long as they maintained the program requirements, their admission to medical school was guaranteed in advance! Not a bad way to go...

That said, I >have< known people in other places who have been accepted to medical (and dental) school without earning an undergraduate degree, and who were not in a combined undergrad/professional program. In all three (maybe 4? 3 for sure, anyway) cases, these people were unbelievable performers in undergrad. I mean, like, 3.9 GPA and upper 30's MCAT types (or whatever a really high DAT score is, for the dental dude).

The best thing to do, probably, would be to talk with the admissions advisor at USF, if that is where you want to attend. Ask specifically about admission requirements and about degree requirements in particular. Be aware that some schools will absolutely require a BA/BS/BWhatever, while others are more liberal in that regard. Frankly, if I were looking into it, I would also add some more of the FL schools to that information list, so as to gain a complete picture of the likelihood of admission without that bachelor's degree.

Good luck to you in school!

Thanks so much for all the advise. I know for sure USF requires you to have a BA/BS so there might not be anyway around that. Which is fine. I was just hoping. If i really looked i might be able to find a medical school that does not require a degree but i dont want to leave Florida.
But i am just going to try to max out on some of my clases per semester and do summer classes to speed up the process. I am 30 years old and have a 7 year old little girl so i really dont have time to waste...ha ha
If i was 19 or 20...well maybe i could take my time. But i am focused on doing whatever i have to do to get into Med School.
Thanks so much and i learn quite a bit from this forum.
Thanks!

Rnee