Beth & Tim Manners
Nov 12, 20192 min
US News: "When Pre-Meds are comparing and contrasting college majors, they should understand that medical schools admit students with undergraduate degrees in a wide array of fields. Premeds should feel free to focus on whatever subject fascinates them most, according to med school admissions officers." Dr. Demicha Rankin of Ohio State University College of Medicine, comments: "We have individuals who major in mathematics, linguistics, nutrition, public health, Spanish, zoology, social sciences, history, engineering (and) creative writing. Those are actually examples of college majors from our 2019 class."
"Adam Goodcoff, a med student currently based in Pittsburgh who has served as a student admissions team member, says a premed's undergraduate major is far less important than whether he or she found an interesting way to apply the knowledge gained through that major." He comments: "If they major in marketing and then use that skill to promote a free medical clinic in an underserved community, that is far more impressive than a student who majors in dance but does not connect that in any way to medicine."
"Goodcoff says he would be intrigued if he saw any of the following types of majors in a med school application, since it would indicate that the student might bring a valuable perspective: Music, writing or performing arts majors. Students with these majors are often eloquent communicators with the potential to forge close bonds with patients if they become doctors ... Business majors, especially finance. Knowledge gained in these types of majors is highly relevant to running a successful medical practice. Science majors in cutting-edge fields ... Undergraduate coursework in areas such as neuroscience or nanobioscience would prepare a med student to learn about rapidly evolving areas of medicine."