Is it true that medical school can be completed in 3 years or less if you have a PhD (in related field), pharmD, or DDS?

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undergrad13

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Since the first two years of medical school are ore clinical years. I've heard that some schools like OSU allow admitted students with Dental/pharmacy doctorates to breeze pass these first two years through some arrangements. Maybe some oral and/or written exam for courses to test their skills in pre-clinical knowledge. Basically giving them independent study, to progress as fast as they want. I'd imagine a dentist would be familiar with the routine of medical school life. The science background is essentially the same. That independent study will allow them to work faster than traditional med students. Idk if this is true.

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this program exists


this has a component of that

 
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In theory, probably.

It would require a specifically tailored curriculum per degree (anatomy PhD vs clinical microbiology PhD are not the same in this context), but yeah, I can see it happening.

There are already three-year programs assuming no experience.
 
Anyone can do it, period. The first two years are not that hard if you just learn HOW to study. A girl in my class would copy and paste PowerPoint slides onto an Anki card and black out a couple phrases and whatever was blacked out would be the “answer” to her card. Absolutely terrible, horrific way of studying. Not to mention how much time she wasted making those cards.
 
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Anyone can do it, period. The first two years are not that hard if you just learn HOW to study. A girl in my class would copy and paste PowerPoint slides onto an Anki card and black out a couple phrases and whatever was blacked out would be the “answer” to her card. Absolutely terrible, horrific way of studying. Not to mention how much time she wasted making those cards.
How is this a horrible way of studying? This is exactly what I did in UG and finished summa cum laude. A friend of mine from UG who went to HMS also did this (i often used her decks). She still does it in med school even

Mixing this in with some practice questions is a great method imo
 
Would it be possible to get a PharmD and MD but get the MD in only 3 years then?
 
Generally speaking, no. The main exception would be a couple 3-year PhD-to-MD programs, but those are rare. The other exception is some schools that allow PhD-to-MD/PhD transfer. If the PhD coursework has significant overlap with the MD coursework, you may be able to forego 1 year and finish your MD in 3 years.

Also, some MD/PhD programs have truncated clinical requirements. So if you enter the right MD/PhD program, you may have 1 year pre-clerkship, 1 year clerkship, and 1 year post-clerkship ("4th year"). I've never heard of any ways in which have a PharmD or DDS would shorten med school, so I can't speak on that. Regardless of the route you take, you should be prepared to spend 4 years in medical school.

I personally believe medical school can and should be 3 years since most of the actual learning to become a physician takes place in residency anyway, but that's a discussion for a different day haha
 
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