Pre-medical

Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med coursework, volunteer activities, clinical experience, research, and the application process. Some pre-med programs providing broad preparation are referred to as “pre-professional” and may simultaneously prepare students for entry into a variety of first professional degree or graduate school programs that require similar prerequisites (such as medical, veterinary, or pharmacy schools). At most colleges and universities, students do not have the option of pre-medical academic major or minor. A student on a pre-med track may choose any undergraduate major in any field, so long as certain required courses are completed. Such courses are generally focused in the scientific fields of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, neuroscience, behavioral sciences and physics, which are necessary to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and satisfy most medical school prerequisites. It is for this reason students on a pre-med track generally undertake a major associated with one of those fields; however, an increasing number of students with a background in humanities have been applying in recent years, a situation applauded by medical schools. For example, Mount Sinai School of Medicine has created a program specifically for non-science majors. The Humanities and Medicine (HuMed) program admits undergraduates majoring in the humanities or social sciences without requiring the MCAT, or science coursework. Typical pre-med students will structure their coursework in their first year in university to accommodate the required courses. After a semester, many pursue extracurricular activities that demonstrate a commitment to medicine. Once junior year arrives, students register for and take the MCAT, the required standardized exam that medical schools use to identify qualified candidates.