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Between figuring out how to finance your education, completing college applications, and keeping up with your day-to-day obligations, the college search can be extremely stressful. It’s even more stressful when you don’t know how to go about reaching your goals in life-- whether you want to live in a specific location or get into a certain professional field.
But things get easier when you have a general idea of how to get the right qualifications for your preferred career. Here, we’ve outlined some general steps for you to take if you want to be a doctor-- and we’ve also listed the undergraduate schools with some of the best pre-med programs in the US.
Here are some of the best colleges for doctors!
How Do You Become a Doctor?
It takes a lot of time and effort to become a doctor-- and it’s not hard to see why. Doctors provide life-saving care to patients on all walks of life and with all kinds of conditions, so if you want to work your way into the field, it’ll take a lot of drive.
If you still have time before graduating from high school, you’ll want to prioritize math and science classes in your schedule-- including honors classes, if possible. These will give you the upper hand when it comes to getting into a college pre-med program.
During your undergraduate studies, it’s usually best to find a good pre-med program to give you a solid basis on which to build the rest of your education. If your college offers extracurriculars that are relevant to the medical field-- like volunteering or working alongside hospitals and clinics-- it’s a great idea to get involved with those, too.
With a bachelor’s degree in hand, you’ll need to pass the MCAT-- which is required for admittance to most medical schools-- and then enroll in a medical school. As you progress through your medical school curriculum, you’ll work toward passing exams for either allopathic or osteopathic medicine, and eventually, match with a residency program to complete your education. After your residency is complete, you’ll earn a certification in your area of specialty-- and then, finally, you’ll have the qualifications to practice medicine as a doctor.
It’s a long process, to be sure-- but it can be an incredibly rewarding profession if you’re passionate about helping people. First things first, though-- you need to find a college with a great pre-med program. But where? Here’s our list of the best colleges for doctors.
The Best Colleges for Doctors
Harvard University
First on our list is Harvard University. Harvard's pre-med track is a separate program from any of its undergraduate degrees-- usually, Harvard students fully complete a relevant bachelor’s degree before being accepted into the two-year pre-med program. However, the program has a great reputation, and it provides students with the knowledge they need to apply to allopathic or osteopathic medical school, dental school, or veterinary school-- so if you want to participate in a great program, Harvard is a great place to keep in mind.
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins’ pre-med track is another one of the best-reputed programs in the US. The program puts a lot of emphasis on providing students with hands-on experience with labs and research projects. Johns Hopkins provides a handbook on the pre-med track in order to provide students with more information on what classes they should expect to take-- so check it out if you’re interested in going into medicine!
Stanford University
Stanford University does not have a pre-med major, per se, but it does offer academic counseling for students interested in pre-med, and there are cohorts of pre-med students in most majors-- so it’s still a good place to keep in mind if you want to be a doctor and need a pre-med track. Stanford offers pre-med students the opportunity to shadow doctors at either the Stanford Hospital, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, or Palo Alto VA Hospital, so there’s plenty of opportunity here to get great first-hand experience and prepare yourself for med school applications.
Washington University-- St. Louis
Washington University, located in St. Louis, aims to provide a strong grounding in the principles of chemistry, biology, and medicine needed in order to prepare for an education in osteopathic or allopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and plenty of other careers. Washington University also offers a variety of research opportunities in fields like genetic counseling, optometry, and physical therapy.
Duke University
The pre-med track at Duke University aims to provide a strong foundation in various scientific principles in order to give students a solid basis of coursework, but pre-med advisors are available to help students personalize their curriculum in order to meet the requirements of the med schools that they are interested in. Since Duke’s pre-med track is so geared toward fitting the needs of each individual student, it’s a great place to keep in mind if you’re looking for a great college to attend on your way to becoming a doctor.
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is another excellent college to keep on your list if you want to take part in a strong pre-med program that will prepare you for med school. The pre-med track itself provides students with a strong grounding in the sciences, including biology, general and organic chemistry, and physics, and also focuses on mathematics to give students a more rounded understanding of scientific concepts. Georgetown also has two Pre-Health societies for students to get involved with-- the Pre-Med and Pre-Dental Societies-- so look into it if you want to become a doctor.
Boston University
As with so many other schools on this list, Boston University does not have an official pre-med major, but it does offer advising services to students who plan on pursuing medicine. Those advisors’ job is to help students ensure that they take relevant coursework throughout their undergraduate careers in order to prepare themselves to get into med school, and given the success of Boston University students in getting to med school, this is a great place to start on that journey yourself. The overall curriculum for pre-med at Boston University provides a strong grounding in biology and chemistry, math, and psychology and sociology.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania provides extensive resources for students interested in applying to med schools. The college’s Career Services advises students on how to approach their respective pre-med tracks and get the appropriate coursework for med school, so pre-med students here have plenty of support on their journey to becoming a medical professional. The University of Pennsylvania goes a step further and publishes the volunteer and extracurricular opportunities available at the school that pre-med students may find relevant to the process of getting into med school, so this is a great way to round out your resume.
University of North Carolina-- Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an excellent school to look into if you want good advisors to help you with planning out your education and med school application process. Besides academic advising and helping with your applications, UNC Chapel Hill’s Health Professions Advisors can help you locate and get involved with various relevant extracurriculars to round out your resume and allow you to grow outside the classroom.
Those Were the Best Colleges for Doctors!
The transition into college is full of uncertainty and strange new experiences, and it can frankly be overwhelming. But with time, work, and plenty of support from friends and advisors, this can be a rewarding time in your life as you learn to operate as a young adult and grow every day.
It is, of course, easier to feel like you have a handle on things when you know generally how to go about trying to accomplish your goals. For hopeful doctors, this is especially important-- and in this article, we’ve tried to provide an overview of what becoming a doctor entails and what undergraduate schools have strong support systems for pre-med track students.
We wish you luck with all your future endeavors!
