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Premedical Office
Xavier University
1 Drexel Drive
Box 120C
New Orleans, LA 70125

Full-Time Staff
Quo Vadis Maria Webster, MA, LPC
Premedical Adviser
xupremed@yahoo.com
(504) - 520-7437
 
 
Part-Time Staff
 
 
 
JW Carmichael, Jr.
Director of Premed Program
Professor of Chemistry
 
 
 
 

 
Premed

Overview of (Allopathic) Medicine (Info #6-updated 7/26/12)

This document is one in a series designed to provide basic information about mainline health professions and the Premedical Office at Xavier University of Louisiana.

There are TWO Kinds of Medical Degrees That Are Recognized in the United States: There are two basic kinds of medical degrees offered in the United States. The most common is the M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree, offered by the nation's 138 accredited allopathic medical schools. The second is the D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy), offered by 29 osteopathic medical school in the U.S. Both types of physicians are legally recognized to be equivalent in every state in the United States. However, because there are so many more allopathic medical schools, most Americans think of "allopathic medicine" as "medicine" and are not aware that osteopathic physicians exist. As a result, the osteopathic physicians generally have more presence in the areas where most are located--in California, along the middle of the country (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois), and along the Great Lakes to the Northeast (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, etc.). Osteopathic medicine arose in the nineteenth century as an attempt to reform what is now known as allopathic medicine to include something akin to modern "preventive medicine." This document is devoted to allopathic medicine. Info #7 in this series provides information about osteopathic medicine.

Why Medicine?

  • Security: Medicine can provide considerable financial reward.
  • Advancement: Medicine offers excellent opportunities for professional growth. Physicians are among the most respected and highest paid professionals.
  • Variety: Medicine is a rapidly changing, expanding profession. The number and range of services physicians provide keeps growing. Physicians treat people of all ages, from many backgrounds, and develop unique treatment plans for each.

What Physicians Do: Physicians are the best known and most respected of the health professionals in the United States. In addition to providing primary health care, physicians educate patients and the community about health and its relationship to total well-being; provide specialized health care; provide leadership in practice settings; and handle business and financial matters. Physicians also often conduct research or teach at the university level.

Basic Data:

  • Time Required to Complete Medical Education: Four years enrolled in a medical school in order to obtain an M.D. degree and at least three years in a residency program gaining advanced training, depending on the speciality chosen, before beginning practice. During the first two years of medical school in the United States, students generally take science classes similar to those taken in undergraduate schools except that each course covers a great deal more content than would an undergraduate one. During the last two years of medical school, medical students generally rotate through a number of clinical activities where they receive training on an individual basis from practicing physicians in different specialties. While enrolled in medical school, students must take steps 1 and 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). After completing the four-year medical school curriculum, the student receives an M.D. degree and takes step 3 of the USMLE. Upon passing the licensure exam, the physician generally completes a minimum of three years in a residency program under the supervision of experienced physicians before establishing a practice.
  • Educational Requirements for Entry: A minimum of 40 semester hours of mathematics and science in specified courses. An undergraduate degree is also recommended. (See Info4 and Info5 for additional information). Some schools may have ADDITIONAL requirements; students are encouraged to review the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) publication Medical College Admissions Requirements (MSAR) for school-specific admissions requirements. A copy of the most recent edition of the MSAR is available in the Premedical Office.
  • Admissions Test: Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). For registration and additional information, visit www.aamc.org and click on "MCAT." Be advised that a major revision of the MCAT has recently taken place, and as a result, the newly revised test will be administered starting in 2015. For details regarding the revision, please go to https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/ .
  • Content of the CURRENTLY ADMINISTERED Medical College Admission Test (MCAT): There are four parts to the MCAT...
    • Biological Sciences (Questions from General Biology and Organic Chemistry),
    • Physical Sciences (Questions from General Chemistry and General Physics),
    • Verbal Reasoning (Questions drawn from humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Designed to examine students' abilities to comprehend, reason, and think critically.), and
    • Writing sample (Two, 30-minute essays). NOTE: The Writing Sample will be REMOVED from the MCAT beginning in 2013.
  • Content of FUTURE ADMINISTRATIONS (i.e. beginning in 2015) of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT): There will be four parts to the 2015 MCAT...
    • Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (Concepts from biological and biochemical sciences as applied to living organisms),
    • Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems (Concepts from chemical and physical sciences as applied to biological systems),
    • Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior (Concepts from psychology, sociology, biology, research methods and statistics as applied to the psychological sociocultural determinants of health), and
    • Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (Analyze, evaluate, and apply information from a wide range of social sciences and humanities).
  • Scoring on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT): Four scores are reported on the MCAT for each of the separate sections on scale between 1 (lowest) and 15 (highest) where "8" is average. Past experience has indicated that anything lower than a "6" in any area will likely keep you out no matter how high your grades are. The Writing Sample, which will be REMOVED from the MCAT in 2013, is assigned a letter grade between J (lowest) to T (highest). Generally, we have found you need at least an "M" to get in. MCAT and GPA ranges for students accepted into allopathic (M.D.) medical schools can be found in the most recent edition of the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR), a publication from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). A copy of the current MSAR is available for review in the Premed Office.
  • Where one submits an application for M.D. school: Most medical schools in the U.S. participate in the Association of American Medical College's (AAMC) centralized application service called the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). Thus, for most medical schools one submits the major application to AAMC headquarters in Washington, DC first. Then, at some later time, most schools require applicants to complete school-specific secondary or supplemental applications. If you are applying to medical schools in Texas that participate in the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Applications Service (TMDSAS), you must submit the special TMDSAS online application.
  • General description of the application process: Evaluation of an application for medical/dental school generally takes place in two stages. In the first stage, admissions committees ask "Can the applicant handle the academic load (the equivalent of about 40 hours a semester) ?". Grades, MCAT/DAT scores, and (sometimes) letters of evaluation are used to answer this question. If the answer to the first question is "Yes", the admissions committees then proceed to the second stage to ask "Will the applicant be a good physician/dentist?" Evaluations and the written portions of the application (e.g. essays, post-secondary experiences, etc.) are used to obtain a preliminary answer to this question. If it appears that the answer to this question is "Yes", applicants are usually invited in for an interview; after which, a final decision is made.

Where to Get Additional Information:

  • About resources for minority students interested in medicine: All new premeds should go to www.aspiringdocs.org and register NOW!!! AspiringDocs is a campaign by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to increase diversity in medicine, and the website provides valuable information to minority students who are interested in medicine.
  • About the general requirements/application process: Attend ALL scheduled Premed Meetings (group and individual) for your class during your enrollment at Xavier (look for signs in NCF Buildings announcing the date, time, and place) and check for information in and around the Premed Office. Also, be sure to check your email DAILY for important messages announcing meetings, deadlines, summer programs, etc. Information may also be obtained by visiting http://www.xula.edu/premed/.
  • About the MCAT: Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), owned by AAMC, www.aamc.org or visit the Premedical Office.
  • About the application process: American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), a service of AAMC, www.aamc.org or visit the Premedical Office. If you are applying to medical schools in Texas that participate in the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service (TMDAS) you must go to www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/.
  • About requirements for individual schools:

 
 
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