Pre-Medicine (Pre-Med) is one of the most commonly asked about and quoted majors for prospective students entering college. Pre-Med is not really a major. Pre-Med is an emphasis area that a student is taking courses in, in order to eventually attend Medical school following graduation with an Undergraduate degree. In order to go on to medical school a student needs to earn a Bachelors degree, complete pre-requisite courses and an MCAT exam. Some medical schools will have additional requirements such as an interview and shadow experience. A student can have any major they wish and still attend medical school, a majority of students will choose Biology or another science based area because of the overlap of the medical school pre-requisite courses and the requirements for a major in a science area, but any major is possible. There are only five recommended courses a student should complete prior to attending medical school which can be combined into any of the possible majors a student might have interest in. For more information about the application process to medical school and a possible timeline for prospective Pre-Med interest students please see the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) website.
Quick Facts:
- Average starting age of a medical school student: 24-25
- In 2009, 2,394 students from the state of Florida applied to medical schools (14.7% of the entire applicant pool) with 918 students in the state of Florida matriculating to a medical school.
- The average GPA of a medical school applicant was 3.51
Data Source AAMC.org