Stanford does not have a pre-med major. For any of the health professions, you may major in any discipline.
Planning for Medical School
Basic course requirements for medical schools and for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) preparation are:
- 1 year general chemistry with lab
- 1 year organic chemistry with lab
- 1 year biology with lab
- 1 year physics with lab
Some medical schools may require math and English and some of the sciences require math as a pre-requisite.
You can check information for a particular medical school in the Medical School Admissions Requirement (MSAR) document in the Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR) Resource Library on the first floor in Sweet Hall.
* Starting in 2015, there were changes to the MCAT. Please speak with a pre-medical advisor to learn more about how to best prepare.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR PRE-MED FRESHMEN
CONSIDERATIONS FOR PRE-MED SOPHOMORES
Other Experiences
In addition to course work, it is important that to explore health care with volunteer work in clinics and hospitals where interaction with patients can occur and where treatment that patients are receiving can be seen.
Many doctors will let students shadow them. This can be arranged through programs at Stanford (such as SIMS) or in your home community.
If you have have conducted research while in high school you might want to continue in a given area or explore a new area. If you have not had the opportunity to conduct research before coming to Stanford, there are many opportunities for involvement.
PRE-HEALTH VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Getting Pre-Med Advice
There are pre-med advisors within UAR available to help you with your ideas, coursework planning, long-term objectives, and options for gaining experience. Do not make the mistake of underutilizing these resources.
- Seek up-to-date advising from these advisors more than once per year.
- To make an appointment with a UAR pre-med advisor, click here.
- Join the pre-med mail list for your class year and Stanford Pre-med Association (SPA) mail list, to get announcements about changes in requirements, shadowing, job opportunities, and more.
Learn more with the Academic Planning Guide
