What's Your Major? Pre-med
You ever ask somebody what their major is and they say, "Pre-med,"? Well, most school catalogs I've browsed through don't have "Pre-med" as a major, but they do have an advising track. While this may be old news to some, I have to throw it out there because many people are still unclear about it.
Medical schools don't require you to be a certain major. Study whatever you want, BUT you do have to take certain classes to prove you can handle medical school.
You can find this information on any medical school's website, but they will all tell you that you need these core classes:
General Biology w/Lab(2 semesters)
General Chemistry w/Lab(2 semesters)
Organic Chemistry w/Lab(2 semesters)
General Physics w/Lab(2 semesters)
English/Composition (2 semesters)
Calculus or Statistics (1 semester)
As long as you have these classes under your belt, you're good for most medical schools. This is why I'm a Psychology major - I like studying psychology, and it gave me the time to take all the prerequisites I listed above. I also took Cell Biology, which is highly recommended for medical school, and I am currently taking Biochemistry. I made the mistake of taking my MCAT before I took Biochem - don't do that. You might not have a choice, though, because Biochem is supposed to be added to the MCAT in the next year or so. Anyways, the point of this post is to tell you not to worry about your major. You can seriously be an art major and still get into medical school, as long as you have taken your chemistry, biology, physics, math, and English. By the way, you'll know whether you're cut out for medical school or not once you get to organic chemistry - I had a lot of "Pre-Med" friends change career paths because of that class. You're stronger than that, though. ;)
-Jordan










