Medical Studies Information

Pre-Medicine

Science Faculty Advisors: Dr. Steve Myers and Dr. Robert Stach

Advising information below was extracted from the UM-Flint Catalog with added annotations in italics:

There is keen competition for the limited number of places available in medical schools. Therefore, prospective applicants are urged to plan an alternate career option as they pursue a bachelor's degree. Students are also advised to obtain exact information from their prospective medical schools concerning requirements for admission.

In general, medical schools stress scholastic achievement, especially in the sciences, as a major criterion for admission. Premed students may major in any discipline so long as the requirements of the medical program to which they are applying are fulfilled. Medical schools are looking for well-rounded students with a broad, liberal arts background. Such a background can be demonstrated by pursuing a non-science major or minor, or focused sequences of courses in multiple disciplines.   Such factors as the quality of the undergraduate college and the recommendations supplied by its faculty, results of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), and place of residence are also considered. Personal qualities such as integrity, motivation, leadership, and maturity are often discernible through the applicant's record of nonacademic activities, an autobiographical statement, and the personal interview at the medical school.

Each student who plans to apply for admission to medical school should seek the assistance and guidance of an advisor from the Biology or Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments at the University of Michigan-Flint, and consult the Biology website for more information at  http://www.umflint.edu/departments/biology/undergrad_programs.htm

           Each student who plans to apply for admission to medical school should seek the assistance and guidance of an advisor from the Chemistry Department or the Biology Department at the University of Michigan-Flint.  Most pre-medical student are either biology or chemistry majors, but a more unusual major may make you stand out from the crowd.  Consider dual majors.  If possible, choose the major that excites your interests the most.  Also, keep optional career paths in mind in case you do not get into medical school or just change your plans in the future.  As a minimum, the following courses should be completed before applying to medical school:

BIO: 111, 113, 326, 328. [Organismal Biology, Principles of Biology, Cell Biology, Genetics]

CHM: 160, 161, 162, 163 or 165, 330, 331, 332, 333. [Year of inorganic chemistry with labs; year of organic chemistry with labs]

ENG: One year (typically 111 and 112). [College Rhetoric, Critical Writing and Reading]

MTH: Wide variation; some require integral calculus.  [Actually very few medical schools require calculus any more, although the Uniformed Services University Medical School in Bethesda does.  Check with the medical schools to which you plan to apply.]

PHY: 143 and 145; or 243 and 245. [If you take calculus, the PHY 243 & 245 courses will give you experience using calculus.  Learning calculus is a good mental exercise, but is even better if you can carry over the mathematical abilities learned to subsequent courses. Using calculus in learning physics will increase the probability that you will be able to apply calculus to aspects of medical physiology and pharmacology.  Also, be aware that the 200-level physics courses cover fewer basic physics topics than the 100-level courses, but those topics covered are covered in more depth.  If you choose the 200-level courses, read up on the omitted topics before taking the MCAT.]

Pre-medical advisors, in addition, highly recommend:

BIO: 409, 410, 432, 435. [Histology, Histology lab; Mammalian Physiology, Microbiology; pre-med students often remark that our mammalian physiology course (BIO 432) was the single most important course in preparing them for the MCAT; this may be due to this course drawing on general MCAT topic (e.g. general biology, chemistry and physics) or to increasing the student's reading comprehension of the medical physiology language that shows up in MCAT questions; see http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm for more info.]  

CHM: 450, 452. [Two semesters of biochemistry lecture]

The following courses are also of special value and should be selected according to one's area of concentration in consultation with advisor:

BIO: 412, 425, 450. [Developmental Biology, Immunology, Parasitology;  Additional courses to consider include: BIO 319, Human Reproduction and Development,  BIO 434, Human Anatomy (includes cadaver dissection; medical school admissions department generally advise against such course and recommend something you won't get in medical school, like molecular biology; however, many physicians and medical students who took the course before medical school recommend taking a cadaver anatomy course, because your first year in medical school will be so much easier), BIO 482, Neuroscience (this basic neuroscience course includes clinical case studies and seeks to make the broad topics of neurophysiology and neuroanatomy understandable); BIO 467, Molecular Biology of Prokaryotes, BIO 468, Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes (the foundations of medical treatments are becoming increasingly based on molecular biology. Some understanding of molecular biology is probably a good idea for any pre-med student.  In fact many pre-med students at UM-Flint choose to pursue the molecular biology and biotechnology program. This program requires most of the courses that a pre-med student would want to take plus it offers excellent alternate career paths, even with just a Bachelor's degree)]

CHM: 340, 366, 367, 451, 453. [Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Biochemistry Lab I, Biochemistry Lab II; Physical Chemistry will give the student a deeper mathematical understanding of thermodynamics, which should enhance understanding of pharmacological and other physiological reactions in the body; Analytical Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory will give the student a deeper understanding of how biological and non-biological samples are analyzed for chemical content; The biochemistry laboratory sequence is especially good for students wanting a research project  approach to learning biochemistry]

(Information on this page provided by Dr. Steve Myers)