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About Medical School Requirements Harvard

Focus on your schoolwork, and choose a major that interests you. Don’t worry about choosing a major that you think will be a great fit for medical school; if you’re taking pre-med coursework, you’ll be prepared even if you major in something totally unrelated.
Start getting involved in extracurriculars. If these activities are related to the medical field, great! It’s never too early to start gaining research and clinical experiences. But if not, don’t stress out too much; there’s plenty of time to pad your medical school resume in the coming years. For now, just focus on getting involved in any way you can.
Meet with your pre-med advisor. They can help you choose a major, stay on track for graduation, and answer all your questions about preparing for medical school. The sooner you get to know your advisor, the more they can help you.
Join one or more pre-med clubs. This will connect you with other pre-med students and give you access to professors and other advisors who can serve as mentors throughout your undergrad.
SOPHOMORE YEAR
Start looking for clinical experiences. Whether you find paid or volunteer clinical opportunities, showing that you’ve had patient interaction is a big part of your medical school application. Consider becoming an EMT, a medical scribe, a phlebotomist, a CNA, or any other position that puts you in direct contact with patients. Note that many clinical experiences won’t include providing actual medical services to patients, and that’s fine. Just being in contact with patients will count in your favor.
Start looking for research experiences. Utilize your network to learn when research assistant job openings open up on campus and apply. It’s nice if your research aligns with your interests, but it’s better to start getting experience than to wait for the perfect opportunity to come along. Medical schools don’t need to see specialization; they just want to see that you’re able to do research.
Start looking for shadowing experiences. Note that you should not shadow a relative; instead, ask a family friend, one of your doctors (or a family member’s doctor), or ask your pre-med advisor to connect you with doctors who have been open to shadowing in the past.
Lay out your medical school application timeline. Plan when you’re going to take the MCAT, submit your applications, take certain pre-med classes, and graduate.
JUNIOR YEAR
Take the MCAT. Plan your course schedule accordingly, so you have time and energy to devote to serious MCAT preparation. It’s a good idea to take the MCAT early in the year, so you have the option to retake it, if necessary, without butting up against application deadlines. Try to have your scores in hand by June, when you can start submitting primary medical school applications.
Research medical schools. Plan to apply to schools that fit your needs, not ones that you feel obligated to apply to because they are nearby, prestigious, or you have a relative who went there.
Complete your primary medical school applications. This includes writing a personal statement and getting letters of recommendation. Since medical schools admit students on a rolling basis, getting your primary applications in as soon as you can will work in your favor.
SENIOR YEAR
Complete your secondary medical school applications. Again, the sooner you can submit these, the better.
Attend medical school interviews. You’ll likely need to take time away from your classes to travel for interviews, to plan your schedule accordingly and talk with your professors.
Plan how you’re going to pay for medical school. There are more factors to consider than just tuition when planning how to pay for medical school, so do your research.

MEDICAL SCHOOL PREREQUISITE UNDERGRADUATE COURSE REQUIREMENTS
During your pre-medical education, you will be required to fulfill certain coursework prerequisite requirements. In addition, you should select other courses in the sciences and humanities to supplement this core curriculum, enhancing your education and your application to medical school.

John Hopkins Medical School Requirements

Most schools agree on the basic elements for pre-medical education. Minimum course requirements include one year each of biology, general (inorganic) chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and related lab work for each. In addition, about two-thirds require English and about one quarter require calculus. A small number of schools have no specific course requirement

Bear in mind that since the MCAT covers material from the commonly required courses, you will need to include those courses in your program of study whether or not they are medical school prerequisite requirements. Nevertheless, many students are surprised to learn that the list of courses required by medical schools is so small. The best sources for admissions requirements for specific medical schools are the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) and the Osteopathic Medical College Information Booklet.

STANDARD MEDICAL SCHOOL PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENTS
These classes are nearly universal pre-med requirements, including basic science classes that are familiar to most science majors.

Biology – Almost all of medicine requires basic understanding of biology, so it is a definite necessity for medical school. Knowing about genetics, cells, and the framework for life are the building blocks of medical science and are crucial for success in the field.
Chemistry – Chemistry—and especially organic chemistry—provide a strong basis for understanding acid-base imbalances within the body and how different medications work. Chemistry is also the foundation for understanding biochemistry.
Physics – Physics also introduces key medical concepts, such as laws of pressure and volume, which are incredibly important for cardiology and understanding the forces operating within the body.
Mathematics – Some schools will require calculus, while others require statistics. Regardless, most schools require at least a semester of math. There’s a surprising amount of basic math and statistics that is important for daily life as a physician or health professional—from determining proper dosage to reading lab results.
LESS COMMONLY REQUIRED PRE-MED COURSES
Medical school prerequisite requirements are selected by the particular program, and so there are some classes that are not required at all schools but are required at most or some. For details regarding specifically which classes are required for each school, check the MSAR website.

English – Many medical schools want you to have critical thinking and reading/writing skills outside of basic science classes. The way they ensure you have these skills is through requiring an English class or, at the very least, a class with a writing-intensive focus.
Biochemistry – Biochemistry has gotten a lot more attention since receiving an increased emphasis on the MCAT. Some schools make it a prerequisite requirement, while others simply assume you have the knowledge if you studied for the MCAT.
Psychology and sociology – Like biochemistry, psychology and sociology have increased in popularity as medical school prerequisite requirement since their inclusion on the revision of the MCAT in 2015.

NON-REQUIRED COURSES YOU SHOULD TAKE AS A PRE-MED
Medical anthropology/history – One of the most fascinating components of medicine is how it has changed and evolved over the centuries. A background in medical history will provide you with an appreciation for the evolution of medical knowledge and how it may change moving forward.
Foreign language – Learning a second language is a particularly useful skill for any medical student or physician. Not only can it open up broader career opportunities, but it empowers you to connect with more diverse populations and become a better provider.

SELECTING A MAJOR AS A PRE-MED STUDENT
While science majors are certainly more common, medical schools stress their interest in well-rounded students with broad-based undergraduate backgrounds. In fact, regardless of your major, your undergraduate transcript is a vital part of the admissions decision.

If you are a science major, one approach is to broaden your education by considering at least some social science and humanities electives. If you are not majoring in a science, your work in both science and non-science courses will be evaluated. However, with fewer courses on which to judge your science ability, your grades in the core science subjects will take on greater importance. So consider taking at least some additional science courses, such as biochemistry, cell biology, or genetics.

Bottom line? Don’t choose a major because you think it will get you accepted to medical school. Choose a major in a subject in which you are really interested. You will do better and have a more enjoyable time throughout college.

HEALTH CARE EXPERIENCE
According to a recent survey of medical schools, knowledge of health care issues and commitment to health care were among the top five variables considered very important to student selection (the other four were med school interview ratings, GPA, MCAT scores, and letters of recommendation).

You should consider being active in health care activities as much as possible as a premed student. If nothing else, these experiences will help you articulate in your personal statement and interviews why you want to pursue a career in medicine.

Medical School Requirements GPA

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR PRE-MED ADVISOR
Your pre-med advisor is instrumental in helping you decide if medical school is right for you and assessing your chances for admission. In addition, he or she will be particularly helpful in guiding you to the schools whose curricula and student profiles best match your qualifications and interests. Finally, your pre-med advisor will have specific data about medical school requirements, how students from your school fared in the admissions process, and where students with similar academic backgrounds and MCAT scores were accepted.

Medical school applicants often fail to acknowledge the importance of working with their institution’s premed office. Going it alone means that you won’t benefit from networking contacts and relationships the premed office has with a number of admissions offices where the you’ve applied. Often admissions officers ask why applicants haven’t used their premedical office’s resources. So be very mindful to have the full support of your premedical office if such a resource is available to you.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
In many undergraduate institutions, the pre-med office handles the letters of recommendation. In some cases, they simply relay the letters to the medical schools. Yet in other cases, the pre-med advisor—or committee—writes a letter to the admissions offices on your behalf. It’s imperative that you get to know your advisor and that they get to know you.

CHOOSING PRE-MED EXTRACURRICULARS
Medical school admissions committees select applicants who have demonstrated intelligence, maturity, integrity, and a dedication to the ideal of service to society. One way they assess your nonacademic qualities is to look at how you have lived your life prior to completing your medical school application. To this end, you have an opportunity to submit a description of up to fifteen activities, club memberships, leadership roles, honors, awards, and jobs within the AMCAS Primary Application. Furthermore, many committees will ask you to submit a more comprehensive list of the extracurricular activities with which you have been involved.

While not all admissions committees consider them in the application process, many value the nature and depth of your extracurricular activities as significant factors in your admissibility to medical school.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Of all the activities you could be involved in, the one that is most likely to be considered essential by a medical school admissions committee is direct-patient-care clinical work. Start by calling hospitals or health centers in your community. Ask to speak with a representative from the volunteer services office. These individuals will be able to direct you to the specific departments, offices or other individuals who work with people in the management of chronic illnesses, the prevention of diseases, or advocacy for victims of abuse and domestic violence. Pick an organization whose focus interests you and go for it. Remember that you may be asked to make a commitment of up to one year, but in return you will be a real member of the team.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
In general, the only time research experience is an absolute must is if you are planning to apply to M.D./Ph.D. programs or are considering an academic or research career. If this is the case, then it is important that you have documented experience that validates your interest and potential in the research field. However, that doesn’t mean that applicants planning a pure clinical career wouldn’t benefit from a research background. As a physician, your job will involve research, either as you seek to determine your patients’ medical conditions or through the process of continuing education, in which you read and study the published findings of research groups.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
One of the most important roles that a physician plays is that of a teacher as he or she imparts information to patients and teaches them to play a more active role in their own health care. The diversity of teaching experiences of medical school applicants during their undergraduate years is very broad. Such experience might include teaching swimming or a musical instrument to children, or becoming a teaching assistant in a lower division class in which you did exceptionally well. Teaching can encompass just about anything you enjoy doing. All you need to do is share it with others in a structured, organized manner.

Medical School Admission Requirements

EMPLOYMENT
Many undergraduate students need to work throughout their college years. Most admissions committees recognize that the time you work necessarily means that you have less time for your studies and other forms of extracurricular activities. These committees understand that maintaining academic performance while holding down a job is hard work. If an applicant has been able to do both well, it is an indication that she will be able to maintain her academic performance upon entering medical school when academic pressures increase.

he curriculum is organized to allow each of our graduates to achieve the eleven educational objectives noted in the Mission and Medical Education Program Objectives for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The regular M.D. curriculum comprises four academic years designated First through Fourth Years. The academic requirements of this program can be combined with graduate study leading to a Master’s or Ph.D. degree. These programs are described in later sections.

The Genes to Society curriculum is highly integrated both vertically and horizontally across the four years. Elective time is available beginning in Quarter 4 of the Second Year. Elective courses are described in the programs of the various departments in the section under Departments and Divisions, Centers, Institutes, and Subjects of Instruction. This information is supplemented by an elective book which is updated annually. Selected students may interrupt the regular curriculum for one or more years in order to pursue special studies.

The study of science basic to the practice of medicine begins in the First Year with four months of Foundations courses, including Foundations of Human Anatomy, Scientific Foundations, Clinical Foundations, and Foundations in Public Health: Epidemiology, Ethics, and the Health Care System. These courses are intended to introduce students to the basic language and concepts of biomedical science, including molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, anatomy, and the social and behavioral sciences. During Clinical Foundations, students begin training in the physician-patient medical interview, physical diagnostics, and clinical reasoning. Each student is assigned a college advisor (see Student Advising, page 77) upon entry to medical school, who serves as the instructor in Clinical Foundations, and academic and career advisor for the remainder of the four years.

Following winter break in First Year, students begin an 18-month organ systems-based course, Genes to Society, which presents genetics, molecular biology, advanced anatomy, physiology, pathology, pathophysiology, and clinical presentations related to each organ system. Dermatology, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Hematology/Oncology, Brain, Mind and Behavior, and Nerve and Special Senses are covered in the First Year. One half-day per week is devoted to a precepted clinical experience, the Longitudinal Ambulatory Clerkship, which provides further training in patient-centered interviewing, physical diagnosis, and health care systems.

Beginning with the first week of medical school and periodically in between courses, 3-day TIME (Topics in Interdisciplinary Medicine) courses will focus students on a multidisciplinary topic related to the social and behavioral sciences. The First Year TIME courses are Disparities and Inequalities in Health Care, Obesity, Nutrition, and Behavior Change, High Value Healthcare, Clinical Informatics, Global Health, Pain Care, and Disaster Medicine. Students will have a variety of lecture and small group discussions supplemented by experiential and skill learning in each course. In the afternoons of these TIME courses students will be attending a Scholarly Concentration course in one of five concentrations: Basic Science Research, Clinical Research, Public and Community Health Service, Ethics and the Art of Medicine, and History of Medicine. Beginning as a seminar series, each student will eventually complete a mentored scholarly project by the end of the Second Year of study.

Second Year students return in late August to complete the Genes to Society course in the following organ systems: Pulmonary, Renal, Cardiovascular, GI/Liver, Endocrine, Reproductive, and Musculoskeletal. The Longitudinal Clerkship continues one-half day per week until the winter break. The TIME courses in the Second Year are Substance Abuse Care, Patient Safety, and End-of-Life and Palliative Care. The Genes to Society course ends in February of the Second Year, and is followed by a 3-week Transitions to the Wards course, which provides intensive training in procedural skills, team communication skills, and clinical reasoning in preparation for the hospital-based clerkships that follow.

In the final quarter of the Second year, students begin the core clinical clerkships. These are 8-week rotations in the clinical disciplines of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Women’s Health, 4-week rotations in Neurology and Psychiatry, and a 4.5-week rotation in Emergency Medicine. A week of Translational Medicine is required after each 8-week clerkship; during these weeks, students will return to a discussion of state of the art biomedical investigation. Students may elect to delay one 8-week rotation in the next 5 quarters, but must complete this required core of rotations by the end of the first quarter in Year 4. Two one-month advanced clinical rotations are required prior to graduation: a Subinternship and either the Advanced Critical Care Clerkship or the Advanced Adult Ambulatory Clerkship.

The clinical clerkships are devoted to the study of health and disease in the various clinical departments of the School of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Howard County General Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Anne Arundel Medical Center, St. Agnes Hospital, and other affiliated hospitals. Students are introduced to practical clinical problems through instruction and participation in a health care team. Elective courses available in every department range from direct participation in current biomedical research to advanced clinical work. Many clerkships and elective courses may be taken during the summer.

In addition to the advanced clinical clerkships noted above, students are required to complete a 2-week course in the Fourth Year designed to refresh clinical skills and prepare them for internship. This course, Transition to Residency and Internship and Preparation for Life (TRIPLE), is offered twice in the spring of the Fourth Year, and includes simulation-based training, advanced cardiac life support, and advanced communication skills.

The academic year for first year students begins in August and ends in mid-June. There is a winter break in December and a spring break in March.

Between the First and Second Years, there is a summer vacation of eight to nine weeks when students may engage in research or other studies. Students must arrange their schedules to include, between the start of the fourth quarter of the Second Year and graduation in May of the Fourth Year, 7 quarters and 2 weeks of required clinical clerkships and 24.5 weeks of elective work; two additional vacation periods may also be scheduled. At the student’s discretion, vacation quarters may be used for research, board preparation, or additional elective study. Graduating students cannot schedule required clerkships during the fourth quarter of the Fourth Year, unless approved by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

The total number of students in each class of the regular four year program is 120.

Electives
Programs in which elective study and research leading to graduate degrees are integrated with the medical program are described in a later section (“M.D.-Ph.D. Programs”). A limited number of stipends are available for students who wish to devote one full year to research.

Approval may be granted for elective study at institutions other than the Johns Hopkins University. In such instances, the student must present a description of the elective including goals and objectives to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for approval. Electives are generally 4-4.5 weeks in length, and may not overlap with required courses for Johns Hopkins School of Medicine students. One of the required 2 1/4 elective quarters may be taken at another non-affiliated medical institution. Students desiring to study at other institutions must make final arrangements through the Office of the Registrar of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Students visiting other institutions and those who devote their free time to elective courses in this institution will be held responsible for proficient work just as in the case of the required subjects of instruction.

Formal registration for elective quarter programs is through the Office of the Registrar of the School of Medicine. The elective work for the Second through the Fourth Years is denoted by the symbol E (e.g., Neurology E). Such courses are listed numerically by department or sub-department. The catalog does not list all elective courses. The Elective Book, an up-to-date description of all elective opportunities, is maintained by the Registrar and is available from the Registrar’s Office or the following website: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/students/Academics/electives.html.

Required Work
The required departmental work for each course and core clerkship is usually regarded as a unit. It may be offered and graded as a single course, although the catalogue may indicate various course elements that comprise the whole. Formal registration for all required courses must be made through the Registrar of the School of Medicine.