This is not the easiest question to answer and much depends on your individual circumstances after you finish your undergraduate studies. Generally speaking, however, to earn a seat in a U.S. D.O. or M.D. program, you want to do the following:
Coursework:
Complete a minimum of 90 credits while completing the following courses (These should be considered minimums and understand that each medical school will have its own individual nuances regarding required courses):
General Biology (For science majors) Lecture & Lab 8 credits
General Chemistry (For science majors) Lecture & Lab 8 credits
General Physics (For science majors. Can be algebra/trig or calculus based) Lecture & Lab 8 credits
Organic Chemistry (For science majors) Lecture & Lab 8 credits
English (Depending on the medical school, some may accept courses such as technical writing or persuasive writing while others will only accept the standard two semester introductory Freshman English series. Still others will accept Sophomore-level English literature) 6 credits
Math (Depending on the school, Statistics and/or Calculus may suffice. If you must take Statistics, most medical schools want it to be taught by the math department. Some will accept stats taught by the psychology department) 3 to 6 credits
Social sciences (i.e., Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology) 3 to 6 credits
Other classes that are recommended but not required include:
Human Anatomy & Physiology 8 credits
Biochemistry 3 to 4 credits (Some medical schools are now requiring this course and some medical schools allow you to replace one semester of organic chemistry with one semester of biochemistry)
Immunology 3 to 4 credits
Microbiology 3 to 4 credits
Genetics 3 to 4 credits
Cell Biology 3 to 4 credits
Molecular Biology 3 to 4 credits
Ethics 3 credits
In terms of what you should study, you can literally choose a bachelor’s degree in anything under the sun. As long as you complete the pre-requisite courses for medical school, it doesn’t matter what your degree is in. Obviously, if you pursue a science-based degree, it may be easier to fit in these courses as opposed to choosing a humanities degree. My advice is to pursue a degree in something that you would enjoy while at the same time ensuring that it’s a degree that can potentially help you land work if you don’t get into medical school. I finished two degrees, one in Microbiology and the other in Community Health Promotion with a minor in Sociology. Both degrees allowed me to find work after graduation and I happened to enjoy both fields of study.
What about outside experiences? Medical school admissions committees will expect you to have clinical experience in the form of shadowing physicians and/or working in some sort of patient care environment (popular routes for this are EMT-Basic, CNA, home health aide, Patient Care Technician, Wound Care Tech, or Scribe). You’ll also want to pursue some sort of volunteer activities. For example, working at a local after school reading program or volunteering to feed the homeless. Gaining some leadership experience will also be seen as a positive; serving as the President or Vice-President of a student organization or sitting on your university diversity committee are positive leadership roles. Finally, while not necessary (unless you are applying to D.O./PhD or M.D./PhD programs), gaining research experience as an undergraduate student is a positive application builder.
Before I address how many hours of these different activities one should consider pursuing, I want to preface that by saying that you should do things that you care about. Don’t do things just for the sake of checking a box to get into medical school. Medical school admissions personnel know how to see through the B.S. From a deeper perspective, these should be opportunities for you to explore your interests, become a well-rounded person, and decide if medicine is really what you want. It is not uncommon for students to participate in these activities and then have a change of heart about medicine. The name of the game is GROWTH.
So, in terms of how much time you should put into doing these things, here are some numbers based on what my wife has shared with me regarding what the average applicant to ATSU-SOMA has (These are just averages; many students apply with far more than this and some have less):
80-200 hours physician shadowing
800-1,000 hours other clinical experiences
1,000 hours of volunteering
80-200 hours leadership experiences
0 – 1,000 hours research (SOMA isn’t nearly as big on research as they are service/volunteering, and it is not uncommon for students to apply with no research)
When I applied this cycle, my numbers looked like this:
120 hours shadowing three physicians, two D.O. and one M.D.
Over 18,000 hours clinical experience gained from military and civilian healthcare
I only counted my most recent, significant volunteer experience, two terms of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA – Over 3,400 hours
Over 2,000 hours leadership experience from the military and civilian world
3,500 hours in research – As an undergrad, I completed three research internships and I have conducted research across two master’s degrees and my PhD
Don’t look at my hours and think, “Wow, I will never catch up to all of that.” I am a non-traditional applicant who has had multiple careers in the years since I graduated from high school (1989). It is EXPECTED that I have a more extensive background than the typical applicant. If I applied with the averages, the admissions committee might very well ask, “What in the hell have you been doing with your life since 1989?” But I point this out to show that you can see a wide variation in what students apply with. The real issue is that you should do things that you care about and make sure that they are quality experiences.
Last thing before I go. When it comes to GPA and MCAT scores, the best advice that I can give is to make sure that you do as well as possible in your classes. GPAs > than 3.0 science and cumulative and MCAT scores > 500 give you the best odds of earning an interview and eventually and acceptance. For the current 2020-’21 application cycle, the average MCAT score for applicants to U.S. medical schools is 506.4 and the average MCAT for matriculants is a 511.5. In terms of GPA, in the 2017-’18 application year, the numbers for matriculants were 3.64 science, 3.79 non-science, and a 3.71 overall. These numbers are for all D.O. and M.D. applicants/matriculants. In practice, the numbers for D.O. applicants and matriculants are a little lower, but not by much (and the gap is rapidly closing between the two). Further, there are always students with lower numbers who get into medical school and those with higher numbers than the averages who do not get into medical school. For example, my undergraduate science GPA is a 3.18 or 3.19 and my overall was a 3.36 (As calculated by AACOMAS). My graduate science GPA is a 3.67 and overall is a 3.75 according to AACOMAS but medical schools tend to place the most emphasis on undergraduate performance when reviewing applicants for admissions. My old MCATs are expired and my new MCAT score was a 495. Conventional wisdom says that I should not have gotten into medical school, yet I hold two acceptances to two U.S. medical schools and may potentially earn interview invites to a few more (and maybe another acceptance or two) before all is said and done. This highlights another point: More than numbers goes into making admissions decisions but in general, the higher your GPA and MCAT scores, the better off you will be.
Last thing. You’ll want to develop good relationships with your professors early on as you will need letters of recommendation. As a rule, you will need either a committee letter or individual letters. Some undergraduate institutions will not allow you to request a committee letter unless you have a particular GPA. Thus, it’s probably easiest to get individual letters. For individual letters, you will need two science letters for rec, one non-science, one from a physician that you have shadowed, and finally, if you can get one from a supervisor from work, a research experience, or a volunteer experience, that will be good. Again, start building relationships early because you will need great letters of recommendation.
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