Pre-Medicine

Students interested in a career as a physician can accomplish their goal via two routes: becoming an allopathic doctor (M.D.) or becoming an osteopathic doctor (D.O.). Both M.D.s and D.O.s are licensed physicians, fully qualified to practice medicine in all 50 states. These programs require students to successfully complete a four-year degree program at an accredited medical or osteopathic school.

The Biology Department at Missouri Southern offers a pre-medicine program that allows students to meet the requirements for admission to either medical program while completing the Bachelor of Science in Biology degree. The admission requirements to the various medical and osteopathic colleges vary, but students should expect to take courses in anatomy, chemistry (including general, organic, and biochemistry), genetics, histology, molecular biology, physiology, and physics as well as courses in the humanities.

For an overview of medical school requirements go to:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2371.html or http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2320.html.

For an overview of osteopathic school requirements, go to: http://www.aacom.org/.
For more information on osteopathic medicine, go to: http://www.aoa-net.org/Consumers/whatdo01.htm.

Admission to a medical or osteopathic college is competitive. Successful applicants will have demonstrated strong academic performance during their undergraduate course work. Potential medical students are generally evaluated on the basis of grade point average, performance on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT - http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm), recommendation letters, extra curricular and community activities, and a personal interview. Experience or exposure to the field of medicine is also important. The Biology Department offers pre-medicine students internship opportunities that allow them to shadow practicing physicians in a variety of settings. This is an invaluable way to gain knowledge and familiarity with the profession.

The Biology Department at Missouri Southern has been extremely successful in preparing students for admission into medical school. This is due not only to the academic preparation provided by our degree program but by the guidance provided by our pre-med advisors.

For more information about the pre-medicine program at Missouri Southern, contact one of the pre-medicine advisors: Dr. William Black, Dr. Vickie Roettger, or Dr. Gerald Schlink.

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