Genetics required or recommended for medical school admissions?

[gullonpick]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Is genetics required (or strongly recommended) for admission to any competitive medical schools at all? Do I hurt my chances of admission to any competitive schools if I apply without taking a genetics class? I might not be able to fit one into my schedule.

 

[McPoyle]

All (US) medical schools are competitive, some of them do require genetics...you need to check with the "competitive" schools in question.

As a side note: I would strongly recommend taking this course regardless. It is a fairly easy course, and I believe one of the most fascinating courses I took during undergrad. It also is gaining focus on the MCAT.

 

[qmcat]

Is genetics required (or strongly recommended) for admission to any competitive medical schools at all? Do I hurt my chances of admission to any competitive schools if I apply without taking a genetics class? I might not be able to fit one into my schedule.

You should check the requirements of each school you're applying to before you apply. Different schools have different requirements. I know that OHSU requires a genetics course, but I haven't noticed any other schools that require genetics. I applied with a chemistry degree, having taken 0 upper division bio classes, and I still made it into med school.

In any case, getting the MSAR or browsing each school's website for the requirements would help.

 

[binko]

I just checked, and it's recommended but not required for my top choice. (That's a DO school tho, I don't know if it's different for allo).