Science Classes. This might seem obvious, but take lots of science classes, and take them seriously. Some high schools only require students to take 2 years of science, but you should take more than that to get comfortable with the topics you’ll be diving into as a pre-med and medical student. Biology, chemistry, and physics are three nearly universal medical school prerequisites that most high school students have access to. Take them in high school to get a head start on the material.

Calculus and/or statistics. One or both of these advanced mathematics courses is usually required for medical school. Again, taking them in high school will help familiarize you with the material so that when you take them in college you’ll be confident and prepared.

Student government. The medical field requires doctors to be good leaders. Whether a doctor is the attending physician at a teaching hospital, the owner of a small practice, or just managing their own careers, opportunities for leadership pop up regularly in medical careers. In an effort to prepare future doctors for these roles, many medical schools have programs dedicated to fostering leadership skills and providing leadership opportunities to medical students. Participating in high school student government, whether as an elected officer or a committee member, will give you a running start. You’ll learn how to communicate with others, understand the needs of the people you’re serving, and confidently make decisions that will impact others.

Foreign languages. There are a couple ways taking a foreign language in high school will help your medical career. First, it’ll expand your reach as a medical professional. If you’re working in a diverse community, the ability to speak Spanish or Mandarin or any other language will allow you to communicate with many more patients than if you speak only English. Some jobs even require you to speak multiple languages. Second, foreign languages teach you to be confident and not fear mistakes. If you’re paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes as a doctor, you’ll never be able to confidently treat patients. You’ll inevitably make some mistakes practicing medicine, just as you’ll inevitably make mistakes learning a foreign language. But if you learn how to get past the mistakes and focus on the message you’re communicating, or the patient you’re treating, you’ll be much more successful.

AP and Honors classes. Your pre-med and medical school curricula are going to be rigorous. High school is a good time to develop good study habits and get used to doing lots of reading. Although medical schools may not accept credit earned from AP test scores, AP and honors classes will teach you analytical skills and help you get used to intaking a high volume of information, which you can carry over to undergraduate and medical school.

English. Communication--both written and verbal--is key to being a good doctor. Whether you’re writing notes about a patient or working on a research paper, presenting patients for rounds or explaining a diagnosis to a patient and his/her family, you need to be able to communicate your ideas clearly and succinctly. English classes will teach you to formulate ideas and present them in a concise, direct way.

Any medical electives offered by your high school. No matter what medical electives your high school offers, taking one or more is a great way to get your feet wet in the medical field.

While it’s true that taking classes on this list will prepare you for an education and future career in medicine, keep in mind that you have plenty of time. BA/MD programs are great options for students who are already absolutely certain they want to be a doctor, but most people don’t apply to medical programs until much later. You’ll spend all of your undergrad and all of medical school taking classes and gaining experiences that will prepare you to be a great doctor, so don’t stress yourself out by trying to develop all the skills and learn all the knowledge while in high school. Enjoy high school and do lots of things that interest you.

Your high school coursework will provide you with a great foundation for your pre-med classes and beyond. While your high school grades won’t count for your medical school prerequisites, getting a feel for the content you’ll be diving into as a pre-med and medical student will help you decide if a career in medicine is right for you. Here’s a list of classes you can take in high school to prepare you for a career in medicine. 

What High School Classes Will Prepare Me to Become a Doctor?

Keep in mind, though, that these programs never offer unconditional acceptance into medical school upon completion of an undergraduate degree; students must take the requisite pre-med coursework, maintain a high overall and science GPA, and sometimes even take the MCAT.

BS/MD and BA/MD programs are very competitive; students generally need to be in the top 5-10% of their high school graduating class and have extremely high SAT/ACT scores. Some programs are accelerated, condensing the undergraduate and medical degrees into 6 or 7 years instead of the standard 8. 

We’ve compiled a list (in no particular order) of some of the best Bachelor’s/MD programs in the United States. 

Brown University Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME)

Students participating in the PLME BA/MD program are granted acceptance to Brown University as undergraduate students and conditional acceptance to Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School, provided they fulfill certain requirements while in their undergrad. This is not an accelerated program; the completion of both degrees will take at least 8 years. Students are encouraged to pursue a bachelor’s degree in whatever they want—not just science—, and they have the option of deferring medical school while they pursue other career and educational opportunities. While in medical school students may also pursue a second graduate degree.

This program is open to approximately 50 incoming freshman. Students apply for the PLME program at the same time as applying to the Brown undergraduate program. If you’re not accepted to the PLME program, you will still be considered for admittance to Brown University as an undergraduate student. The average ACT score for matriculants in the last 5 years was 34, the average SAT ERW score was 742, and the average SAT Math score was 770.

Rutgers offers two different BA/MD programs. The first is a 7-year program for incoming undergraduates granting conditional admittance to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS). Applicants must be ranked in the top 10% of their graduating high school class and have a score of at least at least 1400 on the SAT and/or 32 on the ACT in order to be considered for admittance to the BA/MD program. Students accepted into this program can choose from six undergraduate majors: English, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Psychology, and History. 

The second BA/MD program at Rutgers offers pre-med college sophomores conditional admittance to Rutgers’ other medical school, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Also a 7-year program, this program requires that admitted students complete their undergraduate core requirements at an undergraduate institution affiliated with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School by the end of their junior year so they can use their senior year to start first-year medical school curriculum. Students can receive both undergraduate and medical school credit for some of the classes they take in the senior year of their undergrad/first year of medical school.

Case Western Reserve University: Pre-Professional Scholars Program in Medicine

The Pre-Professional Scholars program at Case Western offers conditional admission to CWRU School of Medicine to 15-20 incoming first-year undergraduate students. Students not accepted to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program will still be considered for admittance to CWRU. Students can major in whatever they’d like, but they must take a full four years to complete their degree. If they finish early, they’re required to supplement their undergraduate education with study abroad experiences, internships, and/or extra elective courses. In order to be officially accepted to CWRU Medical School upon completion of their undergraduate requirements, students must have a 3.63 science and overall undergraduate GPA and at least a 94th percentile MCAT score, if they choose to take the MCAT (though it’s not a requirement for CWRU pre-professional scholars).

This 8-year BA/MD program with Baylor College of Medicine is extremely competitive: only 6 incoming college freshmen are accepted each year. To be considered, applicants should be in the top 5% of their high school graduating class or have at least a 3.7 GPA, and have an SAT score of at least 1430 and/or an ACT score of at least 32. Once accepted to the program, students must maintain an overall and science undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5, complete all the traditional pre-med requirements, and score a 501 or higher on the MCAT.

Of the six students admitted to Baylor’s dual degree program, two receive a $40,000 undergraduate scholarship and the other four will receive $12,000 undergraduate scholarships. Upon entrance to medical school, two students receive another scholarship of $40,000. 

Virginia Commonwealth University Guaranteed Admission Program: Medicine

The Honors College at VCU offers multiple Guaranteed Admission Programs, all related to health sciences. The Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine is an eight-year program made up of a four-year bachelor’s degree and a four-year medical degree. In order to maintain Guaranteed Admission status, participants must graduate with university honors, submit an honors dossier, take several prerequisite classes, maintain a 3.5 science and overall GPA, score 505 or higher on the MCAT, complete community and healthcare-related service hours, and engage in a one-semester clinical mentorship with a faculty member from the VCU college of medicine.   

Only high school seniors with a minimum SAT score of 1330 or ACT score of 29 and an unweighted GPA of 3.5 or above will be considered for admittance. 30 incoming VCU freshmen were offered admittance to the Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine in 2019. Students who do not gain admittance as incoming college freshmen, either because they did not apply or because they were not accepted to the program, may apply to the Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine at the end of their sophomore year at VCU.

The number of BA/MD and BS/MD programs changes from year to year. Here’s a list of BA/MD and BS/MD programs existing in the United States in 2019. 

City College of New York School of Medicine

The College of New Jersey / Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Drew University / Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

George Washington University Columbian College of Arts and Sciences

Georgia Regents University / Medical College of Georgia

Montclair State University / Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

New Jersey Institute of Technology / Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Albany Medical College 

Stevens Institute of Technology / Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Brooklyn College / SUNY-Downstate Medical Center

Caldwell University / American University of Antigua College of Medicine

Rice University / Baylor College of Medicine

St. Bonaventure University / George Washington University School of Medicine

If you’re a high school student or a college freshman or sophomore with a strong desire to pursue a career in medicine, consider applying to a BS/MD or BA/MD program. BS/MD and BA/MD programs offer admittance to both an undergraduate program and an MD program at an affiliated medical school. Depending on the program, students either apply as high school seniors when they apply to college or as pre-med undergraduate students, after they’ve already completed a year or two of college. The fact that a medical school space is reserved for each student in a BS/MD or BA/MD program is enough to lift the major stress of completing medical school applications. 

Pre-med-requirements

What High School Classes Will Prepare Me to Become a Doctor?

Top BS/MD and BA/MD Programs