A BS/MD or BA/MD program gives you early acceptance to medical school, before you even enter your first year of college. A BS/MD program offers a wide array of benefits, but it is not for everyone. Hear more from a student who applied and matriculated to Northwestern’s BS/MD program! This blog post will discuss: a) what is a BS MD program b) describe the pros of the BS/MD path and c) evaluate the potential drawbacks you should consider.
Written by: Tazim Merchant
What is a BS MD program?
Let’s discuss some terminology first. What is a BS MD program? What is a BA MD program? Are there differences?
Students can often be confused by the difference between BS MD programs and BA MD programs. These terms are actually referring to the same type of program; the variation in terminology reflects the type of degree a student receives in college: a B.S. is a Bachelor of Science (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Physics), and a B.A. is a Bachelor of Arts (e.g. Economics, Philosophy, Sociology).
It’s important to note that the terms BS/MD and BA/MD are often used interchangeably, so a student is not necessarily limited to the degree advertised on paper. For instance, I received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Northwestern University in Philosophy, but still refer to HPME as a BS MD program.
The takeaway? Don’t eliminate a program solely based on whether it is called a BS MD programs or BA MD program – they are effectively the same thing. Only certain BS/MDs limit you to a specific type of degree – for instance, Boston University’s Seven Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program (colloquially known as “SMED”) grants every student in the program a B.A. in medical science.
Pros of a BS MD Program
BS MD Program Pro #1: A guaranteed spot in medical school
This is the most well-known, and most compelling reason to enter a BS MD program. According to the AAMC, applications to medical school broke a new record in the 2021-22 school year – increasing by 17.8%. With acceptance rates hovering at <5% for most ranked medical schools (e.g. for reference, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine had an acceptance rate of 1.95% for its incoming class), having a guaranteed spot assures one’s ability to pursue the path of becoming a physician.
This spot does have some strings attached. Matriculating to the medical school is always contingent on BS/MD students maintaining a certain GPA in college. The GPA requirements are usually lower than what one would need to be a competitive medical school applicant applying through the traditional medical school admissions route. For instance, in HPME, our overall GPA had to be a 3.6 at minimum. The recent entering class at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine had a 3.92 median GPA. Sometimes, schools will impose a science GPA-specific requirement and/or MCAT score requirement.
A note on a guaranteed spot – sometimes, BS MD programs allow students to “apply out,” meaning they can keep their seats at their program, while having the ability to take the MCAT and obtain admission to other institutions. This is another useful perk. For instance, maybe you want to apply to medical schools closer to home. Or, maybe there is a specific type of research you want to conduct and other medical schools offer more opportunities within that research field. Within HPME, a few students took advantage of this opportunity and matriculated to Ivy League institutions, such as UPenn and Cornell.
It is important to note that fewer and fewer BS MD programs offer the option to apply out without additional requirements – for instance, if students choose to take the MCAT to apply to other institutions – when they normally would not be required to do so as part of the BS MD program, the BS MD might require to achieve a certain score in order to continue their matriculation within the BS MD program. Each program is specific in its requirements, and whether they allow “applying out.” Be sure to do your research.
[Read more: How to Choose BS MD Schools]
BS MD Program Pro #2: The freedom to explore your academic and extracurricular interests – without the constraints of traditional pre-med application requirements
This is arguably one of the best assets of a BS MD program, right after a guaranteed spot in medical school. A pre-med schedule is packed from an academic and extracurricular perspective. Students are required to take specific coursework for medical school: biology, math, physics, chemistry, English, psychology…the list goes on.
BS/MD students by and large have significantly more flexibility in their course schedule, with fewer required pre-med courses. The exception of this additional flexibility is when students are in an accelerated BS MD programs with defined schedules for students – these schools often compress undergrad + medical school curriculums in 1-2 fewer years. While pre-med students might be concerned about picking the best major for how it looks on a medical school application, BS/MD students can usually pick a major, minor, or both based on their interests. While some premedical students might study abroad and focus on global health, if they are even able to pursue such an opportunity within their schedule, BS/MD students have the ability to explore whichever areas most interest them. For instance, I received an undergraduate language grant from Northwestern and was able to study French language with students from 15+ countries.
From an extracurricular perspective, premedical students, in broad strokes, must have volunteering, shadowing, and research experienced lined up. BS/MD students can do any of those, or none of them! It’s their choice. The MCAT is not always required for BS/MD programs, which can further free up summertime.
BS MD Program Pro #3: An accelerated path – less time to complete college and medical school
Some BS MD programs offer students the opportunity to finish their college and MD degrees in 6 (e.g. UMKC) or 7 (e.g. Sophie Davis) years.
There is a growing trend for premedical students who are applying to medical school through the usual route to take a gap year. It’s also not uncommon for students to even work for a couple of years before matriculating. Accelerated BS/MD programs, as a result, offer a significantly shorter path, particularly in the context of this trend, to becoming a practicing clinician. The accelerated path is often far less expensive, since students take 1-2 less years in college compared to their pre-med counterparts.
BS MD Program Pro #4: A built-in support system throughout college, medical school, and beyond
An under-recognized asset, the BS/MD community is an incredibly strong offering of a BS/MD program.
My first week of college, while other students acquainted themselves with entirely random members of their orientation group, I was with 19 classmates I knew was going to be spending the next seven years with. As someone who moved far away from home, this in-built support system was extremely helpful during my transition to college, and today, 7 years later, some of my best friends are derived from that very group.
The benefits of this community continued into the classroom as a college student. Pre-med culture is often competitive, even cutthroat, but the BS/MD community made the classes collaborative; we never had to search for other pre-med students willing to support us – all of us were focused on helping each other succeed.
Before taking a pre-med course, I asked for advice in our HPME Facebook group. Upperclassmen in the program would tell us which professors were the best, how to study, and give us access to a HPME-specific Google Drive of resources we could use. In almost every pre-med class, I had someone from my program – whether it was in my year or one of the HPME upperclassmen – who I knew, and often, would end up studying with. My 2 AM nights right before a Biochemistry exam were spent with a study group of almost of my BS/MD program peers, teaching each other material.
In medical school, this trend of collaboration of resource and knowledge sharing continued. And now, as my class moves on to residency, I have a privilege I didn’t quite realize initially, but I’m incredibly grateful for: the ability to text anyone from a cardiothoracic surgery resident to an internal medicine doctor to an anesthesiologist – and everything in between – about medical questions, having known them for so many years.
BS MD Program Pro #5: Special funding and other opportunities exclusive to BS/MD students
BS MD programs sometimes offer specific funding and other opportunities exclusively for their students. HPME for instance, provided funding for summer research (e.g. the Harry W. Linde Honors Program Research Fellowship, the HPME Summer Research Program), international experiences related to medicine (i.e. the Sherman Travel Award), health policy and healthcare management work (i.e. AliSark HPME Scholarship Fund), among other areas. The Siena/Albany Medical Program offers two funded summers of service for students in college and in medical school.
BS MD programs can also offer formal networking events as well. HPME, for instance, hosted quarterly dinners where we could mingle with other program members, and listen to physician and medical student speakers/panelists.
While there are formal opportunities for career-focused connection, programs also have more informal benefits in this area. As a BS/MD student, you are viewed quite differently by faculty at the medical school; they see you as part of the medical school community, and as a result, students not only have easier access to research opportunities, but can also build longitudinal relationships and deep expertise in one field.
Drawbacks of a BS MD Program
BS MD Program Drawback #1: You are locked into a medical school
Yes, you have a guaranteed spot. That’s more than most can say.
But, this spot always comes with strings. As a result, even though you may enter a BS/MD program thinking you’ll apply out to other medical schools, you may stick with the easier alternative: focusing on meeting the lower program-specific GPA and MCAT requirements and matriculating to the institution in your BS/MD program. Note that many top medical schools do not have guaranteed acceptance programs, BS MD programs or BA MD programs attached.
Let’s take a step back and look at why this is a drawback from a historical lens. BS/MD programs were created so medical schools could lock in the best and brightest at an early age to go to their schools. This means that more likely than not, the program believes you have the potential to go to a highly-ranked medical school. Therefore, the BS MD program will try and make it difficult for you to consider applying to other medical schools. As mentioned earlier, medical school admissions statistics are daunting, with many medical schools accepting less than 5% of applicants. Whether it be because of the ease – from a psychological perspective – of just accepting what is already guaranteed, or explicit rules that would require you to forfeit your seat if you applied out to other medical schools, you are likely to not apply to other medical schools if you are already currently enrolled into a BS MD program. Thus, a premed student may end up attending a medical school that is lower-ranked than his or her potential. Why does this matter? It is easier to match (get accepted) into a top residency program the more reputable the medical school, so ultimately, a student in a BS MD program may not match into as strong of a residency program as compared to going the traditional route of a four-year university and then medical school.
[Read more: How to Choose BS MD programs]
BS MD Program Drawback #2: You’re limited by the opportunities offered by your school at the undergraduate level
Many BS/MD programs are affiliated with an undergraduate institution which is not highly ranked. Even if the medical school is relatively prestigious or has fairly strong match rates, the college may not be up to par. Most BS/MD students would normally receive admission to Ivy League+ institutions, so accepting a spot as a BS/MD tends to mean turning down the connections, resources, and opportunities that come with prestigious research or liberal arts schools that have a large endowment.
For instance, one of the BS/MD programs I considered was Siena/Albany. While I loved the people and the specialized focus of the BS/MD on service, I would have never normally considered Siena College for pre-med – it was very small, in a somewhat isolated location outside of Albany, with limited extracurricular opportunities, and only one or two notable alum. The college culture was also entirely different. My perception was that many students at some of these and other lesser known colleges were not as academically or career driven as students at UPenn or Northwestern.
BS MD Program Drawback #3: You might discover you don’t want to be a doctor (yes, really, it happens)
Making the decision to become a physician at 18 years old is very early. And although BS/MD programs do their best to screen for students who are most likely to be physicians based on the degree of clinical experience (e.g. shadowing, volunteering) they have at a young age, inevitably, some discover that becoming a doctor is not the right path of them. This happened to a few people in HPME as well. Through more clinical exposure, medicine can become a field that doesn’t seem as appealing as it once did.
If you switch career paths, you’re then stuck at the undergraduate institution affiliated with the BS/MD (unless you transfer), which is often, as aforementioned, more limited in opportunity. Sometimes, programs will also make it difficult to leave. Boston University’s SMED program for instance grants your B.S. degree after the first year of medical school, complicating things for students who realize they no longer want to be doctors.
BS MD Program Drawback #4: You have less of a true college experience than your traditional pre-med counterparts
When I told my high school research mentor, an extremely well-respected cardiologist, I was going to a BS/MD program, he was initially concerned. Why? He thought I wouldn’t get the “traditional college experience.”
Accelerated programs, because of their shortened length, set everything on a faster pace. Pre-med requirements which could normally be done over the course of four years, must happen in 2 or 3 years.
BS MD Program Drawback #5: Stringent Requirements
Certain BS/MD programs do in fact have such stringent requirements for their GPA, MCAT, or curriculum, so much so that students could get more value from a traditional pre-medical experience.
Northwestern’s HPME program for instance, slowly began increasing their GPA requirement – from 3.6, to 3.7, and so on. More and more, this limited students’ ability to take advantage of the traditional benefits of HPME – i.e. spending time on academic and extra-curricular pursuits that aligned with their interests. The BS/MD program became more about the guaranteed spot, and keeping that spot, than personal growth. UPitt’s program similarly required a 3.75+ GPA, with specific extra-curricular requirements as well for clinical exposure, much like a traditional pre-med.
Although this isn’t applicable to HPME and UPitt’s GAP programs (that are affiliated with Top 20 medical schools), for a lower ranked BS/MD program, with still stringent matriculation requirements, it might be more beneficial to pursue the traditional pre-med route at a more well-ranked institution.