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Oh, the Medical Schools and Places You Can Go….With a Humanities Major!

 

What kind of major do most medical schools require for admission? The answer: Any major!

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, as long as you meet medical school prerequisite course requirements, you can major in ANYTHING, including English, History, and Philosophy, and still be a competitive candidate for medical school—and perhaps be more than competitive, since your application may stand out. Since medical schools are looking for candidates with well-rounded experiences able to demonstrate a range of competencies, it can be to your advantage to complete a humanities major alongside basic and advanced coursework required at competitive medical schools. And majoring in a humanities field often improves scoring on the MCAT and other exams. Here’s how you can combine a humanities major with medical school prep work.

 

Most humanities majors are under 50 credits, leaving plenty of room to complete additional coursework that satisfies medical school requirements. Since most medical schools require foundational coursework in Biology, Chemistry (General and Organic), Physics, and Mathematics, you might take the following NSU courses to fulfill these requirements:

BIOL 1500 Biology I/Lab 4 credits
BIOL 1510/1510H Biology II/Lab 4 credits
CHEM 1300/1300H General Chemistry I/Lab 4 credits
CHEM 1310/1310H General Chemistry II/Lab 4 credits
CHEM 2400/2400H Organic Chemistry I/Lab 4 credits
CHEM 2410/2410H Organic Chemistry II/Lab 4 credits
CHEM 3650 Biochemistry/Lab 4 credits
MATH 2020/2020H Applied Statistics 3 credits
MATH 2100/2100H Calculus I 4 credits
PHYS 2350/2350H General Physics I/Lab 4 credits
PHYS 2360/2360H General Physics II/Lab 4 credits
43 credits

Up to 15 credits could be counted toward general education requirements.

 

In addition, with a humanities major, you would still have room for advanced preparation in courses like the following to help make you stand out as a competitive candidate. Some schools require specific additional or different requirements, so check with the schools you are interested in regarding their admission guidelines.

BIOL 3320 Anatomy & Physiology I/Lab 4 credits
BIOL 3330 Anatomy & Physiology II/Lab 4 credits
BIOL 3400 Microbiology/Lab 4 credits
BIOL 3600 Genetics/Lab 4 credits
BIOL 4340 Cellular & Molecular Biology 3 credits

 

Meanwhile, consider the following courses as elective and/or general education courses that may further strengthen your qualifications as a medical school candidate: 

HUMN 2200 Introduction to Medical Humanities 3 credits
HUMN 4100 Death and Dying 3 credits
LITR 3500 Literature and Medicine 3 credits
PHIL 3180 Biomedical Ethics 3 credits
PHIL 3220 Philosophy of Science 3 credits

 

 

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