Amy
Can you major in business and then go into medical school?
My friend is majoring in accounting and is interested in the premed career track and I was wondering if this is feasible. #college #medicine #accounting #pre-med #undergraduate
7 answers
Syed Ferdous
Syed’s Answer
During my time at Michigan, I came across several people who were on the pre-med track and were attending business school. One of my mentors also was a business school alum who was studying at the University of Michigan med school. You have to carefully plan your courses in such a way that you can balance both tracks.
If you have time to do an internship or two in the business of healthcare, this can also make you an interesting candidate for med schools because that experience is relatively uncommon compared to the standard research or volunteering that standard applicants do in their summers.
Having a business degree is a solid backup option in case medical school doesn’t work out or a student loses interest in healthcare.
Pablo Moreno
Pablo’s Answer
This is completely feasible if your friend loves medical.
In fact, if your friend is creative, can use all the theory of economics and apply it to run medical centers, or any other medical business.
There is no limit on what you want to learn or want to do, the only limit is yourself.
Frank Salerno
Frank’s Answer
Hi Amy -
My wife is a physician and I understand there are some core requirements that medical schools will require candidates to have - biology, chemistry, etc. As an accounting major and someone who understands the general business curriculum, the core competencies are different. One will want to make sure that the core requirements are met for medical school applications and, in addition to core requirements, you will want to feel prepared beyond the bare minimum for the start of medical school. I will say that in graduate school while getting my MBA, there were several physicians and nurses getting an MBA to broaden their business knowledge. The trend of medical professionals getting a business degree seems to be growing in recent years perhaps given the growing complexities of medicine.
James Garza
James’s Answer
hi amy,
i graduated med school in 1993 and have been a family physician for 20 years.
the short answer is yes, you can get an accounting degree then go to med school. i, myself, got a business management degree in college. i knew several others who were business majors and pre-med. and in med school i remember at least one classmate who had an MBA.
the big downside, as one of your previous respondents pointed out, is that so few of the pre-med required courses are in the business degree path. unfortunately, that means it's extremely difficult to complete both your degree requirements and pre-med courses in the usual 4 years. it took me 5 years and i went to several summer schools.
so my advice is to sit down with the college health professions adviser and figure a 4 or 5 year plan of coursework that will also allow enough time to prepare for the MCAT and apply to med school.
good luck!
Curt Fuller
Curt’s Answer
Estelle Archer
Estelle’s Answer
Richard A.
Richard’s Answer
Typical medical school prerequisites include:
Biology: Lecture – 4 semesters; Lab – 1 semester
General Chemistry: Lecture – 2 semesters; Lab – 1 semester
Organic Chemistry: Lecture – 2 semesters; Lab – 1 semester
Biochemistry: Lecture – 1 semester
General Physics: Lecture – 2 semesters; Lab – 1 semester
Math: Statistics – 1 semester
English: Rhetoric (Composition) and Literature – 2 semesters