QUICK FACTS: ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE

Description: Allopathic medicine is the type of medicine with which we are most familiar. Practitioners of allopathic medicine hold the M.D. degree. A career as a physician allows one to care for people and to continuously learn more about the human body. Doctors may work in neighborhood clinics, hospitals, offices, even schools and homeless shelters to care for people in need. Many other opportunities are available for a person with a medical degree: pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, teaching, research.

Salary and employment opportunities: The average salary for a physician is $160,000 a year, but varies with the location of the practice and the type of medical specialty practiced. Employment opportunities are excellent.

Education required:

Undergraduate: Bachelor’s degree. Any major is acceptable if pre-requisites for admission to the medical school are met.

Professional: Four(4) years of medical school followed by at least 3 years of residency training. Degree received is the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.).

Admission requirements:

Required courses: May vary somewhat for different schools of medicine but all require:
  8 hours of biology
  8 hours of general chemistry
  8 hours of organic chemistry
  8 hours of physics
Grade Point Average: For 2006 accepted applicants, the average GPA was about 3.5-3.8.
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT): The national median for accepted students for 2006 was 32Q (10, 11, 11, Q).*
  For UT-Memphis the average MCAT score was 29P (10, 9, 10 P).
  For ETSU the average MCAT score was 29O (10, 9, 10, O ).
  For Vanderbilt the average MCAT score was 35Q (11, 12, 12, Q).
  *Verbal reasoning, physical sciences, biological sciences, writing sample.