Easy 10 pts.-- College Question (How do you major in a Science?)?

While some schools do offer majors in "general sciences", that is actually a very bad method for getting into med school. But that is not that the authors meant.

To get into med school, you need a certain number of courses in certain areas, including math, chemistry, biology, etc. To do well, it helps to have more than this minimum, as it reduces the amount you need to asbsord during the insanity of med school. In theory, a pre-med degree does this precise thing, but the reason most recommend against it is that you might change your mind later, and a pre-med degree on its own is approximately worthless.

What is often recommended is that you pursue a degree in a related field, such as biology, microbiology, biochemistry, physiology, or nursing. In most cases these can provide a more than adequate preparation for med school, with the advantage that they also provide their own career paths. That way, if upon graduation (or even during med school) you decide you do not want to be a doctor you can always go another route.

Further, if you are interested in research, a bachelors degree in a seperate science is better preparation. For example, many doctors interested in research do a joint program MD/PhD, and those programs are generally uninterested in pre-med majors.

You would have to take a certain number (exact number depends on the policies of the college) of courses in that science. Examples of sciences would be biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, etc. Many pre-med students are chemistry majors because they have to take so many chemistry courses for medical school anyway. An example of a chemistry major would be the following courses: Introductory chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Lab - two semesters, Physical Chemistry, and enough elective chemistry courses to meet the required number of credits (e.g. 25 credit hours). One may also have to take physics and math to be a chemistry major, and of course, one would have to also fulfill any general education requirements to get a degree.

Pre-med at most schools (University of Dayton is an exception) is a set of courses in biology, chemistry, physics and English and sometimes other subjects. The web sites of the medical schools of interest to you will tell you exactly what you need to take as an undergraduate.