Information on this page is for general guidance only. Admission and licensure requirements vary and may change; students must verify details with relevant schools or licensing bodies. Strong performance in related coursework and extracurricular experiences will help strengthen your preparation.
PRE-ALLOPHATHIC AND PRE-OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE
There are two types of degree programs to become a physician in the US: an MD (allopathic) degree and a DO (osteopathic) degree. Both MD and DO physicians utilize scientifically accepted methods of diagnosis and treatment, including the use of prescription drugs and surgery. The educational requirements are similar as both degrees require four years of medical school and a residency program of three to seven years. In most instances, DO and MD physicians are examined by the same state licensing board; therefore, licensure for both is based on the same requirements and the same or comparable examinations. Both types of physicians are licensed to practice all phases of medicine in every state in America, and both are found in every specialty of medicine. The premedical pathway is identical for both allopathic and osteopathic schools, requiring premedical coursework (which varies slightly from school to school), the MCAT, and a bachelor’s degree.
Professional Associations
SINGLE GENERAL MEDICAL EDUCATION
A large percentage of DO physicians practice in primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, and pediatrics) whereas most MD physicians are in non-primary care specialties. MD and DO students and residents take different licensure exams, but both are important in determining factors for acceptance to residency programs. MD students take the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), while DO students take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX). The ACGME, Association of American Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), and American Osteopathic Association (AOA) are in the process of implementing a single GME accreditation system. This means that there will no longer be allopathic and osteopathic residencies, but simply just medical residencies.
The osteopathic and allopathic medical schools will retain their distinctions and the processes for continuing medical education programs and licensure examinations will remain unchanged. Several befits are envisaged and some of these are outline below:
- Provide high-quality uniform graduate medical education accreditation that enhances opportunities for residents/fellows and provides transparency to the federal government, licensing boards, US, and international credentialing committees, and most importantly the public.
- Increase collaboration among the medical education community to address the challenges facing graduate medical education for the benefit of all medical residents and fellows, and for the benefit of their patients.
- Reduce costs and increase efficiencies by eliminating duplicative accreditation costs and reporting.
- Eliminate the need for programs to choose either MD or DO accreditation pathway or face undue burden to be dually accredited by the ACGME and AOA.
- Provide consistency across all residency/fellowship programs in evaluation methods and accountability standards, using specialty-specific Milestones for assessing the competency of residents/fellows graduating from all US graduate medical education programs.
- Offer all US medical school graduates a uniform graduate medical education pathway, allowing them to seek admission into any residency and fellowship program.
- Preserve and protect osteopathic medical education in essential dimensions of the osteopathic tradition, including through AOA board certification, accreditation of colleges of osteopathic medicine, and osteopathic licensing examinations.
- Increase opportunities for osteopathic graduate medical education and recognition for all ACGME-accredited programs. Provide education in Osteopathic Principles and Practice to all MD and DO medical school graduates; programs can receive the designation for their osteopathic curricula through ACGME Osteopathic Recognition.
Medical School Application
- Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
- The above AAMC link allows you access to the AAMC Resource Guide for Pre-med Students along with other helpful information and links including the below links.
- MCAT (Medical College Admission Test)
- The above AAMC/MCAT link has valuable information including:
- Preparing for the MCAT exam and Registering for the MCAT exam
- MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements)
- This link takes you to the AAMC/MSAR Online, a one-year subscription service, is a powerful online database that allows you to easily browse, search, sort, and compare data on U.S. and Canadian medical schools.
- AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service)
- The above AAMC/AMCAS link has valuable information including How to Apply, FAQ, and Instruction Manual
- Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students by the AAMC
- American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)
Pre-Requisite Courses
This is not a comprehensive list; please refer to your preferred program's website.
GPA Mean for admitted students: MD: 3.7, DO: 3.56
MCAT Mean for admitted students: MD: 508, DO: 502
- BIOL 1100 - Principles of Biology I
- BIOL 1200 - Principles of Biology II
- CHEM 1100 - General Chemistry I
- CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry II
- CHEM 2200 - Organic Chemistry I
- CHEM 2201 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
- CHEM 3200 - Organic Chemistry II
- CHEM 2211 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
- CHEM 4310 - Biochemistry I
- PHYS 1100 - Physics or PHYS 2100 - General Physics I: Mechanics
- PHYS 1200 - Physics or PHYS 2200 - General Physics II: Electromagnetism and Circuits
- MATH 2040 - Applied Calculus I or MATH 2110 - Calculus I
- MATH 2740 - Introduction to Statistics or BIOL 3000 - Biostatistics
- PSY 1500 - Introductory Psychology
- SOC 2010 - Introduction to Sociology
- BIOL 3400 - Cell Biology and Genetics