Does having a masters degree increase your chances of getting into medical school?

All that matters to Med Schools is how you do in their prerequisite courses and on the MCAT.

Most Med Schools offer a choice of earning a Master’s Degree en route to earning your MD.

To answer your question, no they don’t care if you have a Master’s degree or not. You will not get any special treatment.

I’m not sure if getting a master’s degree will guarantee you admission into medical school, but I think it could potentially improve your chances. It adds something to your other qualifications, setting you apart from the hundreds of other pre-med students that are applying. A master’s degree will especially benefit you if your GPA and MCAT score is average because then it will definitely set you apart. However, you must remember that med schools will look primarily at your undergraduate GPA and MCAT score. But, to increase your chances, try and participate in some valuable research, volunteer activity, or other activity while pursuing your master’s degree. Good luck!

I hate it, but this is one of those “Depends” answers. Here’s a couple of different scenarios:

1) If your intent is to become a primary care physician, an advanced degree may actually harm you. Med schools want humans treating humans, not scientists.

2) If you intend to get a Masters and go out in the world to get experience before starting med school, then an advanced degree and the experience will be an asset.

3) If you intend to go into research as an MD, then an advanced degree is essential–preferrably a PhD. Ask any MD/PhD and they will tell you they are the real doctors, not just a body mechanic!

But an advanced degree, on its own, does not increase your chances of acceptance.

If you want to view the statistics for yourself, the Association of American Medical Colleges have provided it. I have posted the link below.

No, a masters degree does not help. With a good gpa you don’t need more coursework before med school. If you didn’t have a science undergrad major or had a lower gpa, the masters could help.

Medical schools look at how much you’ve prepared yourself and made a commitment to the profession for example through an internship or volunteer position at a clinic, doing undergraduate research, participating in pre-med clubs or associations. These are the kinds of experience that medical schools value, because they know you’ll have an idea of what it’s like to work in a clinical setting.

Medical schools also want to accept people who are able to balance the demands of the profession and their personal life. One of the questions sometimes asked in interviews is how will you handle the stress of med school? If you take care of yourself by exercising, taking part in sports, meditation, yoga etc. that is a positive. They want people who can model a healthy lifestyle for their patients and not burn themselves out.

These are good links :

how to prepare for med school

http://www.aamc.org/students/considering/gettingin.htm

Info on medical schools:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12851.html

I’m not sure whether or not a graduate degree will increase your chances, however, when a relative of mine was working on her Masters in Public Health, two of her classmates had been rejected from medical school after their undergraduate studies and were hoping that the MPH degree would help them get in, and it worked. When they re-applied to medical school after completing the MPH, they were both admitted. Keep in mind though that it could have been based more on their increased GPA in graduate school and they might have re-taken the MCAT (not sure if they did or not) than on the fact that they had their MPHs. The MPH certainly didn’t hurt though.

no, just apply to med school after you get your BA Some medical schools offer a double degree program you can recieve your MA and MD or you PHD and MD. Reasearch different med schoold