Concerns Voiced About a Biomedical Sciences Major for Pre-Medical Students

Often, we hear the following concerns from students who are not familiar with the relationship of the biomedical sciences (BMS) major to medicine and health. In addressing these concerns we find that most arise because of student misunderstanding, outdated advisement, misinformation, or erroneous pre-conceived notions. If you share any of these concerns, our responses are given below. Read them and then make an informed decision. If concerns remain, make an appointment with any of the pre-medical advisors listed at the bottom of the page.

List of voiced concerns overheard by our advisors

"When I registered at SOAR, I told my SOAR advisor that I was a pre-med. The SOAR advisor told me in order to get into medical school that I had to take {a specific course and choose a specific major}."

"I was told that the biomedical sciences major is 'too specialized' and that medical schools are looking for students with more generalized 'broad' educational background than is represented by the biomedical sciences major."

"I was advised to choose an undergraduate major in an area that was not 'medical' or 'human' since I would learn the necessary medical knowledge in medical school."

"A friend told me that I could pick up recommended biomedical sciences courses as open electives with other majors."

"My academic advisor told me that the biomedical sciences major is not among the traditional majors that pre-medical students have come from in the past. Majors in biomedical sciences have no track record and this could be a disadvantage for the pre-med applicant,"

"Dr. {advisor's name} has gotten a lot of students into medical school. If you want to get into medical school you must work with {advisor's name}."

"I was told the biomedical sciences major was a 'human biology' major and therefore 'had a very narrow scope'."

"When I asked my physician what major I should choose as a pre-medical student, he told me to major in (name of a major other than BMS)."

Responses to each voiced concern

Response: All pre-med students are urged to begin their four semester chemistry sequence and take CHM 160 during their first semester. When it comes to the remainder of the first semester's schedule, however, the mathematics or biological science courses that usually are taken will depend on the student's eligibility, the preference of the student, and a consideration of the course sequence for an intended academic major. Usually, a department has specific introductory courses designed for majors and non-majors. Unfortunately, some courses that may be recommended by a SOAR advisor may not be appropriate for the academic major the student may later elect as a premedical student. Unless the student has previously explored options for an academic major, the student should refrain from enrolling in any course that may not be counted as a first course in that major. If you are undecided about an intended major, a semester's delay allows you to explore the choice of a major. Taking CHM 160 is required of all pre-meds and will not put you behind if you choose to become a major in any of the sciences.

"I was told that the biomedical sciences major is too specialized and that medical schools are looking for students with more generalized 'broad' educational background than is represented by the biomedical sciences major."

Response: When medical school admissions officers speak of seeking applicants with a "broad educational background" they are referring to the entire scope of undergraduate educational experiences, in the humanities, arts, and sciences, not the scope of study within a particular academic major. The pre-medical advisors in biomedical sciences strongly support the recommended broad educational experiences when advising our pre-medical majors. However, it remains that biomedical sciences is one of the fastest growing areas of scientific knowledge and is as appropriate, if not more so, to the pre-medical students than other science majors if that is their interest. The scope and knowledge of the field now exceeds that of many of the other established sciences. Just as physics and chemistry are defined areas within the physical sciences, biomedical sciences is becoming one of the largest defined areas in the biological sciences. While other sciences advance and expand in more detail of what is already known, biomedical sciences continues to discover the basic mechanisms of living systems and how they interact within the environment of the cell. biomedical sciences is no longer "just an emphasis or group of elective courses in a biological curriculum", but an approach to understanding the lower levels of the biological continuum of organization, i.e. the field is what is known as a "concept integrator" in medical education. The potential breadth of the field is expressed by the fact that all living processes have expressions at the cell and molecular levels of organization where the mechanisms of life occur. Physicians who deal with the consequences of defects and interactions in life processes need to know biomedical sciences, a knowledge that has now become integrated in many courses in the medical school curriculum, but not always represented by a medical school course title. Saying that biomedical sciences is too specialized in the biological sciences is like saying that chemistry is too specialized a science in the physical sciences grouping. Rather than being a specialized field, biomedical sciences has become a major overall theme in medical education and practice that brings together the knowledge that a physician must now possess in diagnoses and treatments.

"I was advised to choose an undergraduate major in an area that was not 'medical' or 'human' since I would learn the necessary medical knowledge in medical school."

Response: This is an often misinterpreted statement made by medical school administrators and others in an effort to remedy a criticism of medical school education. Everyone strives to produce more humanistic, communicative, and compassionate physicians. However, being humanistic and compassionate are personal attributes, not ones associated with a particular major. Most agree that medical school admissions committees are fairly successful in accepting students who are strong in these personal attributes. The program in biomedical sciences looks at the common and universal aspects of all living systems, but uses the human as a primary example. "Human biology" should not be confused with the "human focus" of our biomedical sciences major. We offer both in the Biomedical Sciences Department, but the biomedical sciences major is not human biology, although it is human-focused. Should not biomedical preparation for medical practice in the sciences apply such knowledge in human examples? To students interested in the practice of medicine and preparing for medical school, this close connection between knowledge and application should be preferred.

The volume and pace of coverage of biomedical sciences knowledge during the first two years of medical school are among the biggest challenges to the medical school student. Most commonly, the medical school student spends from 38-48 clock hours per week in class, which is equivalent to an undergraduate semester course load of 25 to 27 credit hours. Also, necessary study time is greatly increased with the volume and pace of knowledge coverage. Here, the ability of the student to handle stress and possess good time management skills are essential. Almost without exception, medical school students who have completed or are undergoing this 'rite of passage' will recommend that pre-meds get as much of a biomedical sciences background as possible as an undergraduate. Our BMS graduates in medical schools report that their required and elective courses as a biomedical sciences major allowed them to focus on knowledge that was "new" or "expanded" rather than trying to learn everything thrown at them at one time. We remember also that medicine is not all science. Therefore, in addition to providing a solid foundation in the biomedical sciences, we encourage our pre-med students to take electives outside of the sciences that foster awareness and development of the humanistic attributes. With all the required and many of the recommended biomedical sciences courses packaged within the single BMS comprehensive major, there is more time to do this as a biomedical sciences major.

"A friend told me that I could pick up recommended biomedical sciences courses as 'open electives' with other majors."

Response: This is true for many of the biomedical science electives recommended by medical schools. The Department of Biomedical Sciences attempts to accommodate students with majors outside the department who desire to enroll in these courses. Most often, these courses are human anatomy, human physiology, histology, embryology, biology of cancer, virology, and pharmacology. However, if you choose another major, it may be difficult and tight to meet the requirements of that major and schedule these desirable courses as electives. With a biomedical sciences major, suggested pre-med elective courses can be elective courses required as a part of your major. In addition, the BMS major allows a student to include valuable courses outside of the major as a part of the student's BMS electives. Such elective courses include microbiology and immunology that are offered by other departments. In reality, students with other majors often find themselves in a position needing to choose among the medical school's recommended science electives and other valuable courses in the humanities.

"My advisor told me that the biomedical sciences major is not among the 'traditional majors' that pre-medical students have come from in the past. Majors in biomedical sciences have no track record and this could be a disadvantage for the pre-med applicant."

Response: The BMS major does concentrate on understanding the living mechanisms usually associated with health and disease. Through departmental electives, the BMS major does provide clinical and human laboratory experiences associated with the biomedical sciences. The BMS major does attract the majority of students preparing for health careers. In the last 5 years, over 50% of our BMS graduates went into careers in the health professions and 42% of those went on to medical school (BMS Program Assessment, Spring 2003). This track record is very good and has been growing when one considers the BMS major itself is less than ten years old. Our reputation among medical schools grows as our graduates in medical school continue to excel and tout the benefits of the BMS preparation. Whenever medical school admissions officers hear about our BMS program, they become excited by our innovations and the forward-looking model that we represent for future pre-medical education. The curriculum of medical schools has been rapidly changing during this last decade. In addition to the traditional biomedical sciences, medical schools now often include titled courses in cell biology and molecular biology in their biomedical sciences preparation. The undergraduate pre-medical curriculum has been slower to respond. Biomedical sciences departments that focus on human biology and the body of knowledge required in the preparation of health professionals are increasing in number and becoming more commonplace at the undergraduate level. Traditional bioscience departments at many large universities have divided their biological science units, like here at MSU, or have shifted their bioscience curriculum more toward the focus of the BMS department here at MSU. Students must understand that a major in biomedical sciences is a broad preparation program for many careers in the health sciences -- it is a good pre-medical option, it is a good pre-health professions option, it is a biomedical sciences program, but it is not a "medical curriculum" -- that is the role of the medical school. An important BMS mission is to provide a biomedical science foundation and advisement for students planning for careers in the health professions. In an expanded educational role, our faculty also help prepare health professionals in other health profession programs on our campus. These include graduate programs for becoming a physician assistant, a physical therapist, or a nurse anesthetist.

"Dr. {advisor's name} has gotten a lot of students into medical school. If you want to get into medical school you must work with {advisor's name}."

Response: First of all, students are the ones applying to medical school, not their advisors. The admissions system evaluates the applicant's credentials, not the advisor's. The pre-med advisor's role is to assist in the preparation and application process for a range of students with different attributes and abilities. The advisor's success rests on how well the student has been advised to become a competitive applicant. It is the medical school admission committee of the professional program to which the student is applying that determines who is accepted to medical school, not the pre-med advisor. An advisor cannot tell the student that he or she has no chance getting into medical school; however, it does not preclude the advisor from relaying estimates of probability of acceptance based on experience. Advisors often find themselves torn between their roles as an "advocates" for the student and "gatekeepers" for the profession. Advisors' responsibilities as "gatekeepers" involves the sharing of any information with medical admissions committees that might impact negatively on the medical profession, such as knowledge of a student's drug or felony conviction. Legally, the important word here is "conviction", not rumors. The advisor who knows the applicant well over a period of time is able to write meaningful letters of evaluation about the applicant. This is far more valuable to the applicant than letters based on impressions after a brief interview that also contain information the medical admission committee already has from other sources. In a nutshell, pre-med students should not confuse an advisor's reputation for good advisement with some rumor that a particular advisor has some "inside track" for admission into medical school.

"I was told the biomedical sciences major was a 'human biology' major and therefore 'had a very narrow scope'."

Response: Here we need to face the facts - being interested in medicine and health implies being interested in humans and their welfare. Medicine is a human endeavor - human in its goals, its methods, and its tools. However, the biomedical sciences major is not a human biology major, but is a major in biomedical sciences as the name implies. This is not to be confused with the human-focus of the BMS major. Like physics and chemistry, the content of biomedical sciences is relatively intangible to our experiences. The human focus of the major helps make the content more relevant and tangible to students through the use of human examples and applications.

In the core curriculum sequence, the introductory course, BMS 110, Concepts in the Biomedical Sciences, comes closest to being a "human biology" course. The course performs the function of orienting students to the human focus of the major; however, the course covers the same basic biological principles as any other introductory biology course. In fact, during the last decade, the human emphasis has become "standard" in the majority of introductory biology courses in colleges and universities across the country. BMS 110 also performs the function of supporting other programs and courses in the Department of Biomedical Sciences that are human biology. Courses that are described primarily as human biology courses, such as Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, are often taken as electives and offer BMS majors with the best of both worlds to satisfy particular interests. Human biology electives that are available to BMS majors expose students to learning strategies, such as "problem-based learning" and "clinical presentations", that prepare students for professional programs in medicine and the health sciences.

"When I asked my physician what major I should choose as a pre-medical student, he told me to major in (name of a major other than BMS)."

Response: This response can be expected. Majors such as the biomedical sciences did not exist when most current physicians were undergraduates. The field of biomedical sciences is still relatively young. The biomedical sciences major at MSU is itself less than ten years old. At MSU, the biomedical sciences major was developed by a group of biologists and biochemists who were interested in providing a foundation in the biomedical sciences that served students interested in the medical and health professions. What might be more important question for future physicians to ask current physicians is: "What undergraduate preparation and content would the physician recommended today?" Invariably, physicians respond by identifying the instructional content found in the biomedical sciences major and the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Remember that medicine has been advancing and changing rapidly and those changes have been brought about primarily due to knowledge coming from the fields of biomedical sciences.

If your particular concern was not addressed in the responses above, we suggest that you contact and talk with one of the pre-medical advisors in the Biomedical Sciences Department. Their names, email addresses, and phone numbers are listed at the bottom of this document.

For more information

Contact one of the following pre-medical advisors:

Dr. Colette Witkowski* 417-836-5603, Kampeter Health Sciences Hall, Room 404

Dr. Scott Zimmerman* 417-836-6123, Kampeter Health Sciences Hall, Room 353

Dr. Richard Garrad* 417-836-5372, Kampeter Health Sciences Hall, Room 345

Dr. Lyon Hough 417-836-6485, Kampeter Health Sciences Hall, Room 409

Dr. Jianjie Wang 417-836-6140, Kampeter Health Sciences Hall, Room 339

* indicates current member of the Pre-medical Committee

Biomedical Sciences Programs
Missouri State University
901 South National Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65897
417-836-5603