Pre-Medicine Program
Develop the skills necessary to enter the field of medicine.
Preprofessional Program – Medicine
Medicine Preprofessional Program
Biology Majors seeking admission to medical or other health professional schools should seek out one of the department’s pre-medical advisors to discuss their goals and to plan a schedule of courses to meet their needs:
Nicholas Steward, PhD
Office: SC 364
Phone: 541.552.6974
E-Mail: stewartn@sou.edu
Melissa LaBonty, PhD
Office: SC 363
Phone: 541.552.6788
E-Mail: labontym@sou.edu
Requirements for Admission to Medical School
The following is mostly based on information from Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). It applies to American medical schools offering the M.D. degree, to osteopathic medical schools (D.O. degree) and to podiatric medicine. For requirements of specific medical schools, see Medical School Admission Requirements, US and Canada (R745.A8) in the reference section of the SOU library.
Meeting specific academic and non-academic requirements is essential to admission to medical school:
- Academics:
- A degree in any academic major.
- Completion of required courses.
- Completion of MCAT test.
- Non-Academics:
- Health care experience
- Volunteer work
- Extracurricular activities
- Research
Choice of Major
No particular major is preferred. Pre-medicine is not a major; rather, it is a collection of courses that fulfill admission requirements to most medical schools. A Bachelor’s degree is required and an academic major must be selected.
Biology and chemistry are the most common majors; others include anthropology, education, math, philosophy, psychology. In terms of acceptance, no major has a selective advantage over another.
We recommend that students select a major that they enjoy, can do well in and would want for a career as an alternative to medical school. Selection of a major should be discussed with a pre-medical advisor and chosen by the sophomore year.
Average GPA of entering medical students is 3.62 at OHSU for the class of 2015.
Required Pre-Med Courses
Chemistry
Two academic years of chemistry (with lab) to include:
- General Chemistry (Ch 221-223 + labs)
- Organic Chemistry (Ch 334-336 + labs)
- Biochemistry (350 or 451) is not required but very helpful for the MCAT
Biology
One academic year of Biology:
- Principles of Biology (Bi 211-213)
- Genetics (Bi 341) is advantageous.
- Cell Biology, microbiology, animal physiology, and developmental biology are helpful.
- Human anatomy/physiology is not required.
- Check specific requirements of particular medical schools.
Physics
- One academic year of physics (Ph 201-203 or Ph 221-223 and labs Ph 224-226)
Mathematics
- One college-level math course is required for OHSU; other schools may require more.
- Calculus (Mth 251) is highly recommended at OHSU and may be required for other schools.
- Statistics (Mth 243) is helpful.
Humanities, Social Sciences, and English
One academic year of each including:
- At least one course in composition
- Psychology is recommended.
- A foreign language is valuable.
- General education goals at SOU meet these requirements.
Note: All required pre-med courses must be taken for a letter grade; pass/no pass options are not acceptable. All required courses must be completed by the time of application to medical school.
What you Need to Apply
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
- The MCAT is required for admission to all medical schools. It consists of questions related to aptitude and achievement in chemistry, biology, and physics and in quantitative reasoning, reading and writing.
- The test should be taken in April of the year in which you apply to medical school after you have completed the required pre-med courses. A second opportunity to take the MCAT is in August.
- Study guides are available in the library and bookstore.
- Average MCAT scores of entering medical students at OHSU are 10s in all areas.
- Extensive preparation for the MCAT test is a must.
- SOU students who have taken the MCAT say that Biochemistry (Ch 350 or Ch 451) was very helpful; these courses can count for biology elective credit.
Health Care Experience, Community Service, Extracurricular Activities, Research
- Non-academic experiences are essential.
- In addition to the scholastic record and test scores, medical schools are looking for characteristics including compassion, commitment, motivation, ability to communicate, problem-solving skills and maturity.
- Applicants must document their ability to understand and appreciate health care issues and an interest in rural health and primary care.
- Experiences can be achieved through leadership activities at the college and employment or volunteer work in the community with clinics, hospitals or health care providers.
- The Association of American Medical Colleges and Howard Hughes Medical Institute have recently defined a series of Core Competencies and Expectations for entering medical students that cover both academic and personal abilities. It is likely that these will guide medical school admissions committees in future years.
Letters of Recommendation
Create a strong package to show academic and non-academic ability. Include the Pre-med committee letter plus 3-4 well-chosen letters that address different aspects of your nonacademic life such as health care experience, work in health care setting, volunteer work, extracurricular activities or employment. Discuss the letter choices with an advisor.
You may have letters sent to your pre-med advisor to include in a packet to send to medical schools along with the committee letter.
We recommend the following letters:
- Committee letter: Complete the Pre-med Interview form and submit to Dr. Sollinger or Dr. May by May 15. Pre-med committee interviews will be conducted in June. The purpose of the interview is to enable the committee to write a clear specific letter on your behalf. An additional benefit is to practice an interview before you arrive at a medical school for the real thing.
- Health care supervisor: When you do volunteer work or employment in any aspect of health care, ask the person who most closely observed your work to write a letter and send it to your pre-med advisor. It is best if the letter comes from someone with an M.D. degree.
- Other volunteer work or extracurricular activities: Again, have the person who best knows your work send a letter to your pre-med advisor.
- Research: When you have completed a portion of a research project, either on campus, such as your senior capstone project, or off-campus in work with other agencies or institutions, have your supervisor describe your work and send the letter to your pre-med advisor. Because senior projects begin in the senior year, you might delay getting this letter until you have had considerable interaction with your mentor.
Personal Statement and Interview
Personal Statement
- The writing must be clear and correct. Choice of topics or ideas is more personalized.
- Express reasons to be in medicine
- What experiences led to it?
- Do you know what medicine is? How do you know? Personal experiences ok.
- Avoid generic rhetoric – you need to become seen as an individual.
- Does the reader want to meet this person?
- They look at how a person writes, does it correlate with MCAT writing sample?
- Creates an idea of the person
- Use this statement to mention other selling points/experiences that don’t show up as part of the application packet
- Set up topics of conversation for the interview- growing up, travel, work, activities.
Interview
- Applicants must sell themselves. This is equivalent to a job interview.
- They must articulate their interactions, not say “help people”.
- Watch for an opportunity to get in “some things I want to say”
- Great personality, great interview
- Hit the high points, but be prepared for both “what are your greatest strengths?” and “what are your greatest weaknesses?”
- Shy and quiet does not work – they are looking for candidates with good people skills.
- What is your bedside manner? Can you talk? Express your motivations?
- In five minutes an interviewer can detect sincerity. Not likely to get in for wrong reasons.
- The interviews can be one on one with two individuals. One of the interviewers “presents” the applicant to the whole committee, tells what they are like.
- Committee looks for inner fire, spark, shining stars, inner drive.
- Because of the competition, you must stand out.
- Some have entered undergraduate programs easily and are “shattered” by the rejection – this shows immaturity and lack of experience with realities.
- With average applicant GPA 3.4-3.5, the applicant’s focus must be to present their strengths in the best light.
- Be prepared to ask questions re: curriculum, changes in managed care, change to the corporation. You will need to show that you are familiar with issues facing modern medicine today.
- The interviewer is looking for a colleague.
- Health Care experience shows commitment (or doesn’t)
- Discuss situations observed with patients.
- You need to defend your interests. If you want to be a pediatrician, do they want your name on someone’s refrigerator? If interested in primary care, do you know the subareas of primary care? (family, peds, internal med) Applicants need to know what they are getting into. This is getting a job.
You must apply to other medical schools. Otherwise, it looks like you are not serious (because the odds are so tough). If no interviews from other schools, what’s wrong? Did applicant choose the wrong schools or is there a flaw in the application?
If rejected, apply a 2nd or 3rd time. You must improve the application to get an interview. Become more competitive. In your secondary application, state what you have done to improve the application. If given advice about changes, take the advice.
Non-Academic Qualifications
An excellent academic record will get your application considered by a medical admissions committee, but you will not likely be accepted without showing a number of non-academic qualifications as well, particularly having a significant amount of time spent in a health care setting. The following are some tips that pre-medical students need to consider well before actually applying to medical school, to ensure that you have the appropriate level of non-academic qualifications to be competitive.
Admissions committees are looking for something that sets you apart:
- Health care experience and understanding
- Community service
- Extracurricular activities
- Research
- What you have done in life
- They are looking for committed, motivated, articulate people.
- Health care experience is essential to acceptance, particularly at OHSU
- What have you learned from your health care experience? Articulate your response.
- How long did you spend (nature of commitment) i.e., one year or one time?
- Shadowing is a start; watch the patient-doctor interaction.
- So many applicants are alike. What have you done that sets you apart? e.g., work in Rwanda with the NW medical team, serve as a paramedic for several years, NASA engineer, other experience that demonstrates excellent people skills?
- Show commitment and the ability to bring projects to completion.
- Do you have a sense of social obligation? How can you demonstrate it?
- It is important to have experience working with groups of people.
- No loners, need to be a joiner.
- Make the best of activities given; don’t make excuses.
- An M.D. is an independent learner. Demonstrate this.
- If you are forced to volunteer, why do you want to do this for a living?
It is reasonable to take a year or two after college to get health care experience. Get away from the safety of the academic environment; don’t hang out in college just waiting
The average age of entrants 26
How to Apply
In the year in which you apply (about 15 months before the expected start of medical school), download applications from the American Medical School Application Service (AMCAS) website and from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS).
Note:
- The earliest you may apply is at the end of your junior year, 9-12 months before graduation.
- Applications from students who have already graduated are much stronger.
- Apply between June 15 and October 15. Earlier applications have an advantage.
- If you are an Oregon resident, apply to OHSU and to 10-15 private schools.
- Consider also osteopathic schools.
Curriculum Planning
- Consult with an advisor early in your program to monitor requirements, watch for timelines in course sequences and obtain application information.
- To major in biology, consult with Dr. Michael Parker.
- To major in chemistry, consult with Samuel David of the Chemistry Program.
- Other majors should see an advisor within their own department as well as one of these specific pre-medical advisors.
Section Contents: Biology Programs
Contact Biology
SOU Biology Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6796
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