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What major is required or essential to become a physician or medical professional?

I am going to be majoring in Biology and Business this upcoming year. I aspire to become a physician in the years to come. I just wanted to know if those majors would cover the pre-medical requirements. #medicine #college-major #college-admissions #physician #college-majors #premed

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James’s Answer

hi Armine,


i've been a Family Physician for 20 years. i was really struck by your question because i majored in Business Management then went to Medical School.


first, going to medical school doesn't limit your college major choice. feel free to choose anything that interests you. however, i will admit that most of my medical school classmates held science degrees, usually biology or chemistry.


no matter your degree choice you'll need to take all of the required pre-medical courses. many of those requirements will overlap with those of the Biology degree path. but some won't. fewer still overlap with the Business degree path.


so if you plan to graduate in the traditional 4 years you'll need to either take a few courses over the summers or take a heavier course load some semesters. of course, you also could do what i did which was to graduate in 5 years.


my best suggestion to you would be to discuss this with your campus Health Professions Advisor. one important question you should ask at that time is what non-required college courses would be beneficial to your future career.


good luck!
Thank you comment icon We have students have pursue Pre-Med or Biology undergraduate degrees. It's usually more conductive to have those degrees as your major as it provides a solid foundation for med school. Sam Mahra
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Richard’s Answer

Pick a major that interests you so you don't mind devoting a majority of your hours to studying. You will need to get good grades in college in order to apply for medical school. At the medical school I attended, the average GPA is reported to be 3.85, so even one or two B's can hurt your chances of acceptance.
Aside from this, any major is acceptable as long as you complete the prerequisite courses. I chose to major in biochemistry because there was overlap with the premed requirements and I wanted to complete my degree in 3 years.
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
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