Pre Med Requirements
Many people have a dream of at one time getting into med school to do medicine. It is probably because being in the medical profession is considered one of the most fulfilling professions in the world today. Apart from that, medical doctors earn really good money with their jobs. And as is the norm, nothing good comes without and equally hard journey. That is why pre-med schools are there.
Passing through pre-med school is one of the many requirements an individual has to meet before being enrolled in med school. A pre med program academically prepares an individual to comfortably start off and study through a full medical course.
So, what are the pre-med requirements one has to meet before med school? Top on the list is English. One has to have an excellent grasp of the English language and this is guaranteed by one year of English training. This is a requirement because all the training in medical schools all over the United States is carried out in English. This applies to the lectures as well as all the medicine textbooks.
Along with English, pre med programs also take you through a one year course in Biology. It is pretty obvious that a student needs to familiarize him or herself with the basic biological principles before starting out on anything in medical school. Medicine is all about biology because it is the literally the studying of the human body and the process that occur within it. Apart from the biological knowledge, one needs also to receive training in biological laboratory skills. Such are vital since they are also widely applied in the practical aspect of medicine.
The second science among the pre med requirements is a one year course in chemistry. Why chemistry, you ask? You know that medicine is about diagnosis of ailments using drugs and other methods. How would one be in a position to understand the working of the drugs without understanding their chemical composition? And that is why chemistry is important when it comes to medicine. Along with knowledge in chemistry, one needs to have the relevant training in laboratory chemistry.
The last in this braches of science is physics. The pre med program also takes one through one year of a course in physics. This science is applied in many fields of medicine. QA very good example is in the making of various medical equipments.
A year’s course in organic chemistry and advanced mathematics are two other pre-med requirements that are covered in a pre-med program.
The scores that one acquires in all these sciences as well as English and mathematics go a long way in forming the GDP that plays a big role in the selection to med school process. Studying medicine is not easy. One goes through a vigorous training that involves a lot of studying and tuition and to prove that you are ready for this you attain very high scores in your pre med program.
Pre med requirements are easy to meet. All you have to do is enroll in a pre med program and go through a full course. You will then be in your way towards med schools since it’s the first vital step.
More About Pre Med Requirements:
Pre med is the common term used in place of pre medical. Pre med can be defined as courses taken by undergraduate students so that they can become medical students. The activities done during pre med prepare the student for medical school. These activities may include volunteer activities, pre-med coursework, experience in the clinic, research and application methods and process. Some students who are on pre med track are even permitted by some colleges and universities to choose an undergrad major of their choice as long as they have completed their pre med requirements.
Pre med requirements are quite similar in most schools and they include:
- One year of freshman chemistry consisting appropriate laboratory courses.
- One year of organic chemistry also consisting of appropriate laboratory courses.
- One year of biology consisting with laboratory courses.
- One year of physics with laboratory courses.
- One year of English.
- One year of calculus or other relevant math classes which are advanced including statistics.
You might find that many schools would want a specific number of credits in non-science classes. Others have exact pre med requirements like psychology assignments or philosophy but they are not very common.
Pre med requirements are very important in admissions because of the following reasons:
- The requirements help the institution that is admitting you determine your GPA in science which is one of the requirements for admission and also determine the volume of the science classes you will take in that institution.
- In order to be admitted into medical school, you will require recommendations from the faculty of science thus science classes are very important due to this point. If you do not have any science class recommendations then getting it from professors who teach pre-med classes will be your only way out. This might be difficult to get.
- The requirements cover a huge portion of the material that you will need for the medical college admissions test (MCAT). The more you know about the pre med requirements, the higher your chances of passing the test.
- Most medical schools explicitly ask you to list down the requirements that you have met along with your performance grades in their secondary applications. This could only mean that the requirements carry a lot of weight to the institution and thus should not be taken lightly.
There are ways in which you can be very successful in the requirements for pre med that you need. Hard work and dedication is the most obvious one because it applies in all classes. Requirements for pre med are mostly made up of science classes. These classes are quite different from others and ultimately the ones you will need in order to have a successful medical career. When you think about these science classes, you should also think about a different approach because knowing stuff will not necessarily be the thing that brings you good grades. Learning to apply that information is what is important. You can read all the sciences and know every fact but if you do not know how to apply that information then the possibility of a bad grade is quite high.