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Dahlia
Student
Racine, Wisconsin
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What is good to minor in if you are becoming a doctor?
I start college this next fall. #medschool
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3 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
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California, CA
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Doc’s Answer
Dahlia pre-med students need to focus on taking the necessary courses to fulfill their prospective medical school's requirements. Most medical schools have a specific list of prerequisite courses that aspirants need to complete during their undergraduate education. These courses are often science-based courses like biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, and statistics. As a result, biology can be considered one of the best pre-med majors. Nevertheless, pre-med students can major in almost any field and still get into good medical schools. Since the majority of pre-med students major in biology, choosing this major won't allow your application to stand out. Since the majority of pre-med students major in biology, choosing this major won't allow your application to stand out. Therefore, if you minor in fields like Psychology, Public Health, Women’s Studies, and complete the prerequisite courses, your medical school application will be taken into account over other applications.
• PSYCHOLOGY – By studying psychology, pre-med students will leave their undergraduate studies with a greater understanding of the mind and its connection to behavior. Psychology’s best pre-med majors are offered at schools including Stanford University and New York’s Stony Brook University. Students who are interested in pursuing medicine following undergraduate work in psychology can concentrate on clinical, cognitive science, integrative health, and social and health — which blends these two concentrations into one program.
• PUBLIC HEALTH – Pursuing a degree in public health, allows students to explore the policies and processes in the medical industry and could be one of the best pre-med minors. Choosing this type of program reveals a side of medicine that many pre-med students don’t see and might not fully understand as doctors. Through internships and working with hospital professionals in areas such as healthcare policy, prevention, and substance abuse, students make invaluable connections during their undergraduate careers.
• WOMEN'S STUDIES – Though women’s studies might not seem like a suitable undergraduate major for future doctors, the coursework, can be extremely useful if you'll want to focus on treating female patients. Through studying the social, economic, and cultural issues faced by women worldwide, pre-med students can be better prepared for international medical roles.
After completing your bachelor's degree Dahlia, you will have to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). These performance scores are required by almost all medical schools in the nation. Content areas that are tested on the MCAT include biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. To properly prepare for the MCAT, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) suggests that students should be comfortable tackling: “…biological and biochemical foundations of living systems; chemical and physical foundations of biological systems; psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior; and critical analysis and reasoning skills.” In addition to choosing their own, personal best pre-med major, pursuing a minor in a subject that will provide sufficient MCAT preparation is a wise choice. Med schools are infamous for being competitive and only accepting the best, so you'll want to be well prepared.
Hope this is helpful Dahli
• PSYCHOLOGY – By studying psychology, pre-med students will leave their undergraduate studies with a greater understanding of the mind and its connection to behavior. Psychology’s best pre-med majors are offered at schools including Stanford University and New York’s Stony Brook University. Students who are interested in pursuing medicine following undergraduate work in psychology can concentrate on clinical, cognitive science, integrative health, and social and health — which blends these two concentrations into one program.
• PUBLIC HEALTH – Pursuing a degree in public health, allows students to explore the policies and processes in the medical industry and could be one of the best pre-med minors. Choosing this type of program reveals a side of medicine that many pre-med students don’t see and might not fully understand as doctors. Through internships and working with hospital professionals in areas such as healthcare policy, prevention, and substance abuse, students make invaluable connections during their undergraduate careers.
• WOMEN'S STUDIES – Though women’s studies might not seem like a suitable undergraduate major for future doctors, the coursework, can be extremely useful if you'll want to focus on treating female patients. Through studying the social, economic, and cultural issues faced by women worldwide, pre-med students can be better prepared for international medical roles.
After completing your bachelor's degree Dahlia, you will have to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). These performance scores are required by almost all medical schools in the nation. Content areas that are tested on the MCAT include biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. To properly prepare for the MCAT, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) suggests that students should be comfortable tackling: “…biological and biochemical foundations of living systems; chemical and physical foundations of biological systems; psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior; and critical analysis and reasoning skills.” In addition to choosing their own, personal best pre-med major, pursuing a minor in a subject that will provide sufficient MCAT preparation is a wise choice. Med schools are infamous for being competitive and only accepting the best, so you'll want to be well prepared.
Hope this is helpful Dahli
Yasemin G.
Aspiring physician
635
Answers
Updated
Yasemin’s Answer
Hi Dahlia! I agree with the answers here especially Jennifer's! I think doing well overall is more important. I was a Psychology major but I minored in Chemistry. Two reasons, I took a lot of a classes and needed only two more to get my minor and also enjoy Chemistry as well. For me personally, yes do well in school, GPA/MCAT and extracurriculars as well as have strong LOR's to be a strong candidate for medical school. However there is much diversity, for example one of my current classmates was a Spanish major; I think if you like something you can still minor in it. However don't stress too much either and put strain on yourself! Focus on doing well in your major and prereqs and if something interests you, definitely go for it!
I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
I hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Jennifer Hoang
46
Answers
Germantown, Maryland
Updated
Jennifer’s Answer
Hi Dahlia!
In my personal experience and from what I've been told, the minor you pick has no effect on your med school application, as med schools care more about your GPA. If your minor helps with that, perfect! If it doesn't and creates stress for you instead, maybe consider not pursuing it. It's not a make or break for your application and won't help/hurt you substantially. Here's a link that you can use to read more into it: https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/articles/2019-05-28/how-to-select-the-right-minor-as-a-premed-student
For picking a minor, people generally pick one of the MCAT topics, such as psychology, because it'll prepare them for when they have to take the MCAT. However, I highly recommend picking something that really interests you and you know won't hurt your GPA. Minors are for fun and are not taken too seriously in comparison to other aspects of your college career. Hope this helped!
In my personal experience and from what I've been told, the minor you pick has no effect on your med school application, as med schools care more about your GPA. If your minor helps with that, perfect! If it doesn't and creates stress for you instead, maybe consider not pursuing it. It's not a make or break for your application and won't help/hurt you substantially. Here's a link that you can use to read more into it: https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/articles/2019-05-28/how-to-select-the-right-minor-as-a-premed-student
For picking a minor, people generally pick one of the MCAT topics, such as psychology, because it'll prepare them for when they have to take the MCAT. However, I highly recommend picking something that really interests you and you know won't hurt your GPA. Minors are for fun and are not taken too seriously in comparison to other aspects of your college career. Hope this helped!