Pre- Health Advising
Advising
In addition to meeting with your Engineering advisor, if you are interested in a pre-health profession, you will also be meeting with an Arts & Sciences pre-health advisor. Arts & Sciences Advising handles all pre-health advising. Planning ahead is the most important part of blending your engineering major with pre-health.
Courses to complete in order to take medical school exams are:
English 101-102 (Composition I and II)
Biology 130-140 (Biodiversity- Organization/Function of the Cell) or some students choose Biology 140 Cell and Biology 240 Genetics)
Chemistry 120-130 (General Chemistry I and II)
Chemistry 350 -360 and 369 (Organic Chemistry I and II with Lab)
Physics 231-232 (Electricity & Magnetism and Wave Motion, Optics & Modern)
The MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is typically taken in the spring of junior year or at least one year ahead for entrance into medical school. All the courses listed above should be complete prior to taking the exam. There are 4 sections on the exam: physical science, biological science, verbal and writing. Each section has a total of 15 points with writing graded J-T. The average UT score is 30 or higher in order to be a competitive applicant with medical schools. You can take the exam more than once and your scores are valid for 2 years. The exam costs over $200 and lasts 4 to 5 hours.
AMCAS (American Medical College Application Services) – offers centralized application process. Students must submit biographical information, all grades, activities, honors, work experience and references. First application sent costs $160 and then $31 for each additional application sent.
Association of American Medical Colleges http://www.aamc.org/
How to know if medicine is right for you?
Shadow a physician at local hospitals
Volunteer – Clinic Vols, Hospitals, Red Cross
Join AED – UT’s Pre-Health Honor Society
Take Interdisciplinary Studies 100- taught in Fall semesters only
What makes a well rounded applicant?
- Solid grades and MCAT scores
- Evidence of exposure to medicine- volunteer work, shadowing a physician, research
- Strong letters of reference- 2 from science faculty and 1 non science faculty
- Well written personal statement about your motivation for medical school
- Interview that demonstrates your readiness and appropriateness for medical school. Career Services offers practice medical school interviews.
Other things to stand out as an applicant
- Experience abroad- study, research, work
- Research with a faculty member- co-author a publication, present research at a conference
- Internships in health and medicine
- Leadership in community or UT organizations
- Being a student athlete