Ask Dr. Gray: Premed Q&A: How to Choose Your Premed Major

Session 100

What’s the best premed major for you? Will med schools actually care what you majored in? What factors should you consider? That’s what we’re covering today!

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[00:34] Question of the Day

“What do you think about clinical laboratory science as a major, knowing that it puts you on track to the study of disease, and stuff like that?

[01:08] Choose a Major That You Like!

'The major that you are studying and seeking as an undergrad has a zero bearing on your ability to get into medical school.'Click To Tweet

At the end of the day, pick a major that you enjoy. Now, a lot of students love microbiology, and biochemistry, and chemistry, and all the boring premed majors. I was an exercise physiology major because I thought that was more enjoyable for me. And it also hit a large percentage of the “prereqs” for medical school. So I didn’t have to take a lot of classes outside of my major for applying to medical school.

Lots of students do some sort of clinical laboratory science or something along those lines. And they really enjoy it because it’s a little bit more relevant to ultimately what you want to do. It offers a lot of the prereqs as well. Therefore, you don’t have to take a lot of classes outside of your major. So if you enjoy it, then great.

But if you are doing this major because you think you need to or have to or because it’s “good” for being a premed, then don’t do it for those reasons. But if you’re doing it because it’s cool, and you enjoy what you’re learning, and you’re really engaged with it, then great. Go study it all day, every day, and have fun doing it.

[02:54] Which Classes to Take

The nuances of different courses and classes and stuff like that don’t really matter. The biggest question is, is it, say, biochemistry that is super specific to the major? Or is it biochemistry that medical schools will consider a prereq.

For instance, a lot of students do nursing before medical school, whether they wanted to be a nurse. Or they just decided later on that they wanted to go to medical school. Or they’re just using the nursing path to get to medical school. But you have to understand that lot of the nurse level classes aren’t considered prereqs for medical school.

'A lot of the nurse level classes aren't considered prereqs for medical school. 'Click To Tweet

Again, the small little nuances of different classes don’t really matter. But if it’s not a general kind of biochemistry, that will count as a med school prereq that’s the only question I need you to ask. Make sure that you’re not wasting your time taking classes that you’re only going to need to repeat a different course to qualify as a prereq for medical school.

[05:59] Retaking Classes at the University Level

If you took those classes at a community college, you don’t have to retake them because community college courses are perfectly fine.

There are schools out there that don’t like it that you took community college courses. Because there is still that negative bias towards community colleges by some medical schools. But just look at the big picture and you’ll be fine.

'More and more students are going to community college for financial reasons, for schedule reasons, or whatever, so it's just not an issue.'Click To Tweet

At the end of the day, the goal is to prove that you can academically handle medical school. Doing well in your community college classes, transferring to a university, and continuing to do well will prove that there’s no issue there. So you don’t need to repeat and waste money repeating courses at the university level.

[07:27] Should You Take Anatomy & Physiology?

Anatomy and physiology is not a prereq for medical school. But they’re handy. Many students think they should go take a class or start reading some books. But just go enjoy yourself. You really can’t prepare for medical school.

The one caveat that I would put on here is that Anatomy is usually the first class that students walk into medical school. And it involves a lot of nuances and memorizing different parts of the body and bones and just everything.

It can be overwhelming for some if you’re only been exposed to it for the first time, and you’re also still getting used to the med school life. So if you have the time to build it into your schedule and not overload yourself, then that would be good. Because it’s super relevant for medical school and being a physician.