If you are interested in choosing medicine as a potential career, it is likely that you are aware of the many years of schooling it requires. However, many American colleges are aware of how intimidating this can be and have created a more direct path to medicine: The BS (Bachelor of Science)/MD (Doctor of Medicine) program.
Depending on the university, BS/MD programs can accelerate the eight-year process of undergraduate school and medical school and also eliminate the stress of studying for the MCAT.
Regardless, all BS/MD programs guarantee a path to medicine and provide the opportunity to save money. In this article, we will explore just some of the various BS/MD programs in the US!
The Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), Brown University’s eight-year BS/MD program, is particularly unique because it is the only BS/MD program in the Ivy League.
The PLME provides students with much academic freedom - as Brown is known for; students aren’t even required to take the MCAT!
Furthermore, Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School allows students to complete another degree (such as a PhD or Master’s) alongside their MD degree.
Boston University’s Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program is unique in that it actually stresses humanities education, thus granting a BA instead of a BS.
As the name suggests, the program is seven years long, but still requires students to score in the 80th percentile of the MCAT. There is a 12-week summer program required at the end of the second undergraduate year, but this also gives students the opportunity to study abroad!
The City College of New York’s Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program with the SUNY Downstate Medical Center highlights diversity and representation of minorities in the medical fields.
The program takes precedence for those who are Black, Latino, and/or Indigenous. The Sophie Davis program focuses on narrative medicine and caring for underserved communities, especially those in inner cities.
The program is seven years long and requires no MCAT, but applicants must live in New York state.
Penn State’s Premedical-Medical (PMM) program is a comparatively more academically demanding program.
Courses taken by PMM students are similar to those taken by traditional premedical students, but PMM students enjoy the safety of guaranteed admission to the Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College (contingent upon their competitive MCAT score).
However, Penn State is more restrictive in their undergraduate studies, as PMM students are required to major in premedical studies.
Case Western Reserve University’s Pre-Professional Scholars Program guarantees students admission to CWRU School of Medicine as well as the opportunity to conduct research and be mentored at the Cleveland Clinic, a world-renowned medical center.
The program is eight years long and does not require the MCAT. CWRU School of Medicine also allows students to choose between the traditional medical path, the research and clinical path, and an MD/PhD program!
