Choosing The Best Pre-Med Course for You

Before you can enroll for med school, you need to be a bachelor's degree holder first. You can take up dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, IT, etc. However, the most common courses taken as pre-med are those that are also medical-related and those are the things I will be discussing. When choosing a pre-med, it is important that you also consider the possibility of you not going to med school after you graduate since we all know that in this world, nothing is permanent. So maybe someday, you might choose to work after graduation, instead of going to med school.

1. Biology

Biology was once the most common course taken as a pre-med, before nursing and medical technology. Biology students study different fields such as zoology, botany, ecology, etc. Unlike in the courses listed below, spending time in the hospital isn't part of the curriculum. They also don't have board exams so they can work as soon as they graduate.

Biology graduates usually work in research or as a professor.

2. Nursing

For nursing, students are exposed to different cases, and they'll begin working in a hospital as early as in their second year. They deal with patients and learn their symptoms, their diagnosis, and their treatment. Students also learn how to inject drugs, use catheters, deal with wounds, etc.

Nursing graduates usually work in clinics and in hospitals. If you're considering going abroad, I think nursing is the best because it's almost always in demand. They're the ones you see when you're suddenly sent to the ER, when you're confined in a hospital and someone comes in to check your BP, meal or drug intake, etc., or before you visit a doctor in his clinic.

3. Medical Technology / Medical Laboratory Science

MedTech students are exposed on laboratory-related things. They study urine, feces, blood, and even living tissues - usually with the use of a microscope. They're required to spend 6 months to 1 year in a hospital's laboratory (this depends on the school) where they will have to rotate on different departments.

MedTech graduates usually work in the laboratory, and they're the ones you see when you have to have your blood tested. Yes, they're also the ones taking your blood, not nurses.

4. Pharmacy

I'm not too familiar with the pharmacy course, but I do hear them memorizing drugs in the hallways so of course, they're more familiar with drugs, their mechanisms, their recommended doses, effects, contraindications, and so on. I'm not sure if they're required to spend time in the hospital too but the students from my university are, though I'm not sure for how long they need to. Unlike nursing and medtech students, they don't go around the hospital.

Pharmacists usually work in drug stores.

Each of these pre-meds have their own advantages and disadvantages. Other less common medical-related pre-meds include radiologic technology, physical therapy, and psychology.