The Pre-Med Route to Becoming a Physician

The path to medical school can be divided into a few, very simplified, steps

1. Attend College
2. Take the MCAT
3. Apply to medical school
4. Get interviewed

These steps are going to be broken down into greater detail so you can gain a better grasp on what it takes to get into medical school.

Medical schools in the U.S. require applicants to have graduated college with at least a bachelor's degree and have taken a set amount of prerequisite courses. These courses are also what is tested over on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). They consist of:

• 14 hours of biology (12 hours lecture + 2 hours in labs)
  • BIO 1203 + BIO 1201 (lab) and
  • BIO 1223 + BIO 1221 (lab) (new course numbers effective fall 2022*)
  • BIO 2313
  • UD Bio Elective xxx3
• 8 hours inorganic/general chemistry (6 hours lecture + 2 hours lab)
  • CHE 1103 + CHE 1121 (lab) and
  • CHE 1113 + CHE 1131 (lab)
• 8 hours organic chemistry (6 hours lecture + 2 hours lab)
  • CHE 2603 + CHE 2612 (lab) and
  • CHE 3643
• 3 hours biochemistry
  • BIO 3513 or CHE 3303 or CHE 3313
• 8 hours Physics (6 hours lecture + 2 hours lab)
  • PHY 1603 + PHY 1611 (lab) and PHY 1623 + PHY 1631 (lab);  or
  • PHY 1943 + PHY 1951 (lab) and PHY 1963 + PHY 1971 (lab)
• 3 hours statistics
  • UTSA approved courses: STA 1053, STA 1403, PSY 2073, MS 1023 

* BIO 1404 and BIO 1414 (previous Biology course numbers still meet approved Biology prerequisites)

The typical accepted medical school student averages around a 3.70 GPA.

Due to the heavy competition of getting into medical school, having straight A’s just won't cut it. 

There are many things you can do to build your resume. Here is a list of typical activities that pre-med students do in their free time:

• Volunteer
• Clinical experience
• Scribe
• Pharmacy Technician
• Shadow physicians
• Research
• Hobby

All of these are some of the many things that medical schools look for in a potential candidate. Admission councils want to look for someone that is not only knowledgeable, but well rounded and passionate about the medical field. 

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