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Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly 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).
In Australia, there are two pathways to becoming a doctor. One is undergraduate entry into medical school and another is graduate entry into medical school.
Undergraduate entry is available for graduates from year 12, or high school. And it requires 5-6 years to graduate.
Graduate entry requires previous tertiary education with at least a bachelor's degree. It requires 4 years to graduate.
In Australia, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) are treated the same. Many universities that offered MBBS changed their academic degree's name to MD.
At the University of Auckland, students may choose one of the two pathways: one year of "biomedical science" or "health science".
To enter the medical school of the University of Otago, students have only one pathway: one year of "health science".
Undergraduate entry is available to those who graduate from year 12, or high school. And it requires 5-6 years to graduate.
Graduate entry requires previous tertiary education at least a bachelor's degree.
Undergraduate entry type medical schools are usually 6-year courses, which include 2-year pre-med courses.
Different schools have different policies on sending secondary applications to students; many send secondary applications to all students, others screen applications prior to inviting an applicant to submit a secondary application. These applications are generated by each individual school. They generally contain essay questions that the applicant must answer to demonstrate that the applicant possesses qualities that the schools deem necessary to be a good medical student and physician. Qualified applicants can next expect to receive invitations to interview at schools. Upon completion of an interview and receipt of any additional application materials, the application is considered to be complete, and the student then waits for the school's decision to either accept or reject the student.
Some applicants receive admittance to medical school through a "post-baccalaureate" pre-medical program. These programs may be formal, such as the programs offered through Columbia, Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Mayo Clinic with Barrett, The Honors College, Bryn Mawr, Goucher and Scripps College, or semi-formal, such as the program offered at Harvard, but often consist of a student informally enrolling in a college to complete science coursework required for admission to medical school prior to sitting for the MCAT. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) maintains a list of all formal and semi-formal post-baccalaureate pre-medical programs in the United States.
The pre-medical coursework is offered at many American colleges and universities; however, it is considered to be a "track" that follows a certain curriculum. Most pre-medical students major in the natural and applied sciences, such as agricultural science, biology, chemistry, or physics, though this is not a requirement. Some pre-professional degree programs in agriculture prepare students for direct entry into the workforce in fields in high demand, while also meeting requirements for medical or veterinary schools. The latter curriculum model is meant to enhance employability of graduates awaiting admission or choosing not to attend professional or graduate school.
The courses that must be taken to meet the pre-medical requirements from the AAMC are three years, with one being in chemistry, one year of biology, and one year of physics. These course requirements are expected to change since the MR5 Committee, charged with revising the MCAT has created a new set of core competencies for success in medical education and practice. Those core competencies will include a greater emphasis on molecular genetics within the biology curriculum and will include biochemistry. In addition, the 2015 MCAT will test in areas related to multicultural sensitivity and in critical analysis of ethics and philosophy.
Many colleges of medicine and undergraduate pre-medical advising offices have yet to formalize pre-medical curricular recommendations. Though it did not address changes in the mathematics, physics, psychosocial or humanities portion of pre-medical education, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) developed a set of pre-medical curricular recommendations. ASBMB advocated that the year of biology includes genetics; that general and organic chemistry be taught with an orientation toward the chemistry of molecules encountered in living things; that one semester of biochemistry be required and two semesters of biochemistry be recommended; and that the laboratory course requirement can be taught in biology, chemistry or biochemistry, so long as research methods and data analysis are emphasized.
Pre-medical students may be advised or required to take upper-level biology and chemistry electives, such as cellular biology, physical chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics. Specific requirements for these courses vary by institution. Organic Chemistry is one of the most popular upper-level courses. Schools may also have requirements for non-science classes. Some require a certain number of general humanities credits, while others have specific requirements for courses in English studies, psychology, or other desired disciplines.
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