It’s well known that the path to a medical career is long and arduous – students generally head from undergraduate premed studies to four years of medical school and then a residency. But there are some nontraditional programs that can streamline the process and help students round out their skills in other areas.
Take a look at unique medical school programs that accelerate courses, provide early admission and don’t always require the MCAT, experts recommend.
“Medical school has tended to be pretty traditional in the way it’s structured and the way it’s run,” says Betsy Goebel Jones, co-director of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Family Medicine Accelerated Track program. “I think all the schools that do this, certainly it’s true of us, are looking for what is the best approach.”
Shorter Medical Education in Accelerated Programs
Accelerated programs are a common nontraditional way to complete a medical education. Courses in accelerated programs are often focused on a specific area of interest and last three years instead of four.
Experts say students in accelerated programs often have less debt because of the shorter length of time students are in school. In the Texas Tech accelerated program, student debt is cut in half compared to students not in the program, Goebel Jones says.
“The students are only in medical school for three years rather than four, so their tuition is for one fewer year, but then we give them a full-tuition-and-fee scholarship in their second year,” she says.
[See: Best Family Medicine Programs.]
Students in the Texas Tech accelerated program focus on training in family medicine, but take the same courses as traditional medical students for the first two years of med school.
“We wanted to take away that as a barrier to family medicine, but really just to smooth the process for students who really knew what they wanted to do and make that a smoother entry into the family medicine profession,” she says.
Some U.S. medical schools offer accelerated programs to build a workforce and improve access to health care in their respective states. However, this can make it more difficult for out-of-state students to be accepted.
Goebel Jones says public medical schools in Texas can admit up to 10% out-of-state students in each class. Students apply for the program during the medical school application process or during their first year of medical school, she says.
“We’re all about the physician workforce in Texas. We are out in west Texas where there are a lot of small rural communities that don’t have much in the way of health care,” she says.
Other three-year medical school programs, like the accelerated program at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, have medical courses identical to those in a four-year program but at a faster pace.
Undergraduate Head Start in Early Assurance Programs
If undergraduate students are looking for an alternative path to medical school than taking premedical courses and the MCAT, early assurance programs are a good option, experts say.
Students in early assurance programs are given a spot in the corresponding medical school of their university during their undergraduate education.
[READ: How to Make Sure You Fulfill Medical School Requirements for Admission.]
Students enroll in early assurance programs during their sophomore year of college at most universities. Universities choose students based on their GPA, interviews and interest in the program, among other factors.
At East Carolina University in North Carolina, Dr. Cedric Bright, vice dean for medical education and admissions at the Brody School of Medicine, says student recruitment for the program starts during the undergraduate admissions process in high school.
Brody admits only students from North Carolina, notes Bright, who is also a professor of internal medicine in the school.
“They promise that if they maintain a certain GPA, they can come into our program without having to take the MCAT,” he says.
Bright says although the MCAT isn’t required in certain early assurance programs, students should still take it or prepare to take a practice exam, Brody says. “You’re going to be taking standardized exams the rest of your life in medical school practices.”
Experts say high school graduates considering joining an early assurance program should seek summer programs to learn more about the medical profession. The Association of American Medical Colleges provides a database of summer enrichment opportunities for all ages.
Dr. Wendy L. Jackson, associate dean for admissions at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and an alumnus of the school, says she would have benefited from an early assurance program because it gives students support to enter the medical field.
Students attend sessions like medical boot camps and panel discussions once they are accepted into the UK early assurance program during their sophomore year of college, she says.
[READ: Overcoming Adversity: How to Stress Your Experiences When Applying to Medical School]
“The hope is that through an early assurance program, they will apply to our institution,” Jackson says.
Mix of Humanities and Medicine in ‘HuMed’ Programs
Early acceptance humanities and medicine programs, known as “HuMed” programs, are another option for college students to consider. University of New England in Maine students enrolled in the HuMed program are guaranteed an interview for admission to the university’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai humanities and medicine program in New York is another established HuMed program.
Students in HuMed programs take both medical and humanities courses — which isn’t common in a normal premed track.
Michael Cripps, academic director of the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of New England, says students in that HuMed program use their expertise in humanities and science to treat patients holistically.
“What they cultivate in an undergraduate education in the humanities and liberal arts is a strong capacity for empathy, interpersonal communication skills and written communication skills,” Cripps says. “We’re asking them to kind of plug into where current trends are in health care, which is beyond the classroom, beyond volunteering and beyond job shadowing.”
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Choosing an Alternative Path to a Medical Education originally appeared on usnews.com
