In order to attend a health professional program (medicine, dental, optometry, physical therapy, etc.) immediately after graduation, you must complete the admission requirements by the spring semester of your junior year.

You will then have the course background necessary for the required standardized exam, such as the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Dental Admission Test (DAT), or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), which you should plan to take no later than the first week of June of your junior year. The national average for the MCAT is a 501 and Wesleyan’s average MCAT score is approximately 512. The national average for the DAT scores for the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), the academic average (AA) and Total Science (TS) are 20 across the board.

Attending a health professional program (medical, dental, veterinary medicine, physician assistant, etc.) immediately after Wesleyan is not necessarily the best choice for everyone. In fact, many people who now have very successful and personally rewarding careers practicing medicine began medical school in their mid-20s or early 30s.

Having all four undergraduate years and then taking more time to explore and prepare—which will then lead to a year or more between college and your health professional program—offers many advantages. One advantage is that you are able to complete the required courses at a pace that will allow you to make the most of Wesleyan’s liberal arts curriculum.

In addition, you are likely to be a stronger candidate because of your additional clinical, volunteer, employment, or academic experience, and be more sure of your choice in a healthcare field.

Seek out information from outside sources such as the health professions school’s websites, but also helpful podcasts such as the All Access Podcast provided by the Case Western School of Medicine and Beyond the White Coat provided by AAMC. If you want to know what medical school is really like, talk to a medical student.

Be aware that there are many myths about medical school requirements. If you are unsure, or hear something unusual about a particular school that you are interested in, talk to the Health Professions & Life Sciences Career Advisor or contact the medical school admissions office directly.

Medical schools do not require a specific major, as they prefer to attract students from many disciplines. However, many of them do require that applicants take specific courses (mostly in the sciences) in order to apply. Your choice of major should be based on a variety of factors—ideally your preferred area of study, and what you do well in, rather than merely what you think medical schools want to see.

As a physician, you may want to work in a Spanish-speaking community; if so, a Spanish major or minor could be a great advantage. Perhaps you will want to prepare yourself for some of the tougher ethical questions that physicians face, and therefore choose Philosophy, Religion, or Science in Society as your major. An economics major can help you when you confront the variety of market forces that affect health care practice and research.

Regardless of career, you will always need to work at balancing the personal and the professional aspects of your life. Many health professionals find pursuits in the arts especially rewarding. It is fine to take courses for no other reason than the fact that they intrinsically appeal to you. You should choose your courses with these types of considerations in mind, as well as giving yourself the opportunity to develop as a whole person.

Creating a tentative four-year plan will allow you to prepare for a semester abroad and the application timeline that you are aiming for. Besides the sciences and the required courses for the major the student has chosen, we encourage students to incorporate coursework that will prepare them for the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT. This can entail courses in Psychology, Sociology, Science in Society, and possibly Anthropology.

As you investigate further, you may note that individual medical schools have specific pre-requisite courses listed on their website.  As an undergraduate, at least three academic years are needed to complete the required courses below:

• 1 year of introductory biology with laboratory
• 1 year of general chemistry with laboratory*
• 1 year of organic chemistry with laboratory*
• 1 semester of biochemistry (e.g., CHEM 383 or MB&B 228)  
• 1 year of physics with laboratory
• 1 year of English
• 1 year of college math

*NOTE: Medical and Dental schools are made aware that Wesleyan’s general chemistry lab, CHEM 152 serves as a year of general chemistry lab. Additionally, CHEM 257 and CHEM 258 satisfy the year of organic chemistry lab. Together, these three laboratory courses meet the chemistry laboratory requirements for medical, dental, veterinary schools, optometry, etc. All science courses need to be completed with a grade of C or higher. Students should repeat any pre-requisite course with a grade of C- or lower. As you are deciding on which chemistry course series to take (CHEM 141/142 or CHEM 145), go to the Chemistry Department’s website to view their recommendations on choosing the correct chemistry series based on your high school background.

On AMCAS/AACOMAS etc. primary applications, applicants must designate each of their courses based on the “primary content of the material covered.” Familiarize yourself with the AAMC Course Classification guide, and ensure you are meeting program guidelines and requirements.

Check the course requirements of every school that interests you by visiting the website of the medical schools you are considering and by checking the MSAR Premed Course Requirements Document. As noted on this table, many medical schools (and health professions schools) will accept  AP Credits, but will expect to see an upper level course taken within the subject area of the AP course credit. Access the complete list of  Medical School Admission Requirements  Reports to learn how long your MCAT score will be valid at each institution (it varies from 2-4 years), or the waitlist policy, or the early decision policy for each school and more.

Many applicants do not complete the required premedical courses during their undergraduate years. One option for those wanting to complete these required courses is to take them individually at al four-year college or university while working. Another option is to enroll part- or full-time in a post-baccalaureate premedical program, which is set up as a concentrated program of study. There are many post-baccalaureate programs around the country. These programs can take between one and two years, depending on what courses one still needs to take to fulfill the medical school admission requirements and whether one attends full- or part-time. Some programs are eligible for Federal Stafford Loans.

For applicants that feel that their academic performance makes them less competitive applicants, there are also post-baccalaureate programs that are structured to help individuals enhance their academic record. A listing of post-baccalaureate programs can be found at AAMC Post-Baccalaureate List.

For those of you who began considering medicine well into or beyond your undergraduate years, there are Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Programs throughout the country. These programs allow you to complete medical school requirements in one or two years of intense study. These required courses may also be taken while enrolled as a non-degree student at most four-year, US institutions that offer them. There are also post-bac programs that prepare post-grads for other health professions such as physician assistant and dental. For preparation for nursing schools, there are accelerated nursing programs that prepare students for the BSN degree or that of nurse practitioner.

Competition for admission is keen at all US medical schools. The national overall average GPA for applicants accepted to medical schools for the last eight to nine years has been a 3.7 and the national average of the science GPA (BCPM) falls around 3.6 to 3.7—use these guidelines as  representative numbers for successful applicants. To obtain an idea of your Science GPA you may use the following Resource using Wes “grade points.” Please note that AMCAS and AADSAS use their own logarithm to calculate the science and cumulative GPA across all colleges and universities in the U.S.

Academic achievement is weighed heavily by the admissions committee. Unless you have no choice, we highly recommend that you choose grades over a pass/fail designation in all of the pre-requisite courses. Pass/fail courses make it more difficult for admissions committees to evaluate your performance. Keep in mind, though, that grades by themselves do not tell the full story. Faculty recommendations are also very important in helping admissions committee members to appreciate and assess your abilities. Admissions committees also pay attention to the difficulty of courses you select and where you took them.

As the application picture stands at present, two out of three candidates to allopathic medical schools (MD) will not be admitted, even though they may be very qualified applicants. While most Wesleyan graduates are highly competitive applicants, you should apply only when you are personally ready and a strong candidate. An excellent senior year can greatly improve chances for admission and a glowing recommendation from a thesis advisor is very helpful. For individuals whose overall GPA is below a B+ at the end of senior year, your MCAT score will be very important. Furthermore, we suggest you consider taking additional upper level science courses after graduation and/or work in a laboratory or clinical research setting, while volunteering in a clinical or hospital setting; these experiences will enable you to develop greater understanding of medicine, acquire valuable new skills, and further strengthen your health professional school application.

Aside from coursework, the primary experiential areas to be engaging in as you prepare for medical school are Research, Clinical Exposure & Direct Patient Care, and Volunteering or Service to the Community.

Regardless of the health profession you are considering, the admissions committees need to know that you have pursued some quality shadowing opportunities and that you have persisted in finding those experiences. Longitudinal experiences, volunteering directly with patients in a clinical setting are encouraged and required for many programs (many physician assistant programs require between 200-2000 hours of direct patient interaction). If you are not secure in your reasons for wanting to apply to a particular health profession you will most likely not succeed in your interviews. Regardless of your academic ability, schools will not offer an acceptance without good clinical experience and evidence that you as an applicant have a clear understanding of the day-to-day commitments required for your health profession.

There are two paths for those interested in earning medical degrees, MD or Doctor of Allopathic Medicine and DO or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Both are recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA). Both MDs and DOs can choose to concentrate in any specialty. Explore and consider applying to both! For more information about Osteopathic Medicine, visit the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) website and read this article from the President of AACOM, Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH. Those interested in medical school may also want to read through the Official Guide to Medical School Admission.

As you are preparing, you will benefit from reviewing the AAMC Applicants and Matriculants Data, the Medical School Admission Requirements™ Reports for Applicants and Advisors, and the Medical School Admissions Guide. You should also take a look at AAMC.org and search for the Medical School 101 page for some useful tips. Also, remember to take a look at the fee assistance programs to pay for your application. Find information on Fee Application Assistance Programs: MD Programs, Osteopathic Medicine, and Dental Medicine Programs.

Locally, we have two hospitals where you can seek out volunteer opportunities to gain patient interaction and to learn about the workings of a healthcare system. Middlesex Hospital is a ten minute walk from campus, and MidState Medical Center is on the outskirts of Meriden, which is about eight miles away at 435 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT, 06451.

The Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Center with Michael Antunes, PT, DPT, DNT, and other health professionals also welcome students as volunteers and for shadowing.

For veterinary medicine consider the Pieper-Olson Veterinary Hospital, and for dental shadowing Dr. Peter Gletzakos, DMD and Dr. James McGrath, DMD, have both welcomed students to their practice.

There are also several student organizations and clubs that serve the community and will provide you with transferable skills. Here is a list of a few of these student groups: Habitat for Humanity, EMT Club, WesGilead, WesAge, ASHA, WesBuddies, Food Rescue, Doula Project, Wesleyan Refugee Project, and WesInterpreters. Additionally, there is a year-long EMT course offered on campus through OnSceneTraining, LLC.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) developed a list of Core Competencies to help the medical schools evaluate students applying for admission. These competencies have now been used by applicants to any health professional program. (For dental school, applicants need to also hone their motor skills and manual dexterity.)

Below are the 15 competencies as described by the AAMC. Also review the AAMC Anatomy of an Applicant. You may visit AAMC to peruse the news, insights, and other Premed Competencies Resources, including Real Stories Demonstrating Core Competencies shared by medical students, and the Anatomy of an Applicant Self-Assessment Guide.