Explore Allopathic Medicine – Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising Center

What is Allopathic Medicine?

Medical doctors, or physicians, are highly trained healthcare professionals who perform medical examinations, diagnose illnesses, prescribe drugs, and treat patients suffering from injury or disease using a variety of techniques. dfrat

About 1/3 of the nation’s physicians are generalists, or “primary care” doctors, although that percentage is declining as more physicians choose to become specialists. Generalists include fields such as internists, family physicians, and pediatricians. Specialists focus on a particular disease, system, or part of the body; examples include neurologists, oncologists, and cardiologists, to name only a few.

AAMC Article: Choosing a Medical Career

Knowing what differentiates a medical doctor from other healthcare professions is one of the first essential steps of working towards becoming a physician. However, applicants must also consider why they want to be a physician and if medicine is the right profession for them.

Good, Questionable, and Bad Reasons to go into Medicine

Field Description Allopathic vs Osteopathic Allopathic Medical Programs Medical School and Licensure

Field Description

Work Setting

Physicians serve in all types of communities, from rural to the inner city, and in a wide variety of settings, from private practice to clinics and hospitals. They also work in specialized settings, such as homeless shelters, schools, sports programs, prisons, nursing homes, developing countries, and the armed forces.

Physicians also serve in research, studying and developing new treatments for disease, in academia, sharing their skills by educating medical students, in health organizations, pharmaceutical companies, medical technology manufacturing, health insurance companies, and in corporations with health and safety programs.

Related Careers

Physician assistant, nursing, medical technician, dentistry, optometry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, biomedical research, biomedical engineering, and hospital administration.

Information is compiled from the following webpage: A Patient’s Guide to the Physician Assistant. Please note that these are just some notable differences among the fields and are not intended to be comprehensive. It is important to double check with certain schools regarding pre-requisites and program specifics.

CATEGORY	NURSE PRACTITIONER (NP)	PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT (PA)	ALLOPATHIC OR OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE (MD/DO)
Total Post High School Education	6-8 years	6-8 years	8 years + 3-7 years residency + 1+ years optional fellowship
Prerequisite Education	BS in Nursing (with some exceptions) and clinical hours	Bachelor's degree and clinical hours (for most)	Bachelor's degree (strongly recommended)
Entrance Exams	May or may not be required	GRE or PACAT (some may accept MCAT)	MCAT
Application Timeline	Varies	Varies	Accelerated
Time in Classroom*	500 hours	1000 hours	2 years
Time in Clinic*	500-700 hours	2000 hours	2 years
Residency	None	Optional (1-2 years depending on specialty)	3-7 years
Degree or Certification Awarded	Master's Degree or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)	Physician Assistant Certified (PA-C)	Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.)
Recertification	1000 professional and practice hours AND ~15 CE credits/year OR exam every 5 years	100 education hours every 2 years AND exam every 10 years	MD: 50 education hours every year & ABMS certification recommended DO: 120 education hours every 3 years & ABMS certification recommended
Salary (US National Average May 2014)	$97,990	$97,280	$202,357 (varies greatly by specialty)
Independent Practitioner	MOST STATES		Yes
Complicated or High Risk Cases	VARIES	ASSIST	Yes
Perform Surgery	ASSIST	ASSIST	Yes
Deliver Babies	Yes	VARIES BY STATE	Yes
Write Prescriptions	Yes	Yes	Yes
Conduct Physical Exams	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diagnose	Yes	Yes	Yes
Treat Illness	Yes	Yes	Yes
Order and Interpret Tests	Yes	Yes	Yes
Patient Counseling	Yes	Yes	Yes

*Varies from school to school or program to program

Allopathic vs Osteopathic

Allopathic vs Osteopathic Medicine

	Allopathic (MD)	Osteopathic (DO)
# schools	160 (U.S)	42 (U.S)
Average GPA (Matriculants):	3.79	3.60
Average MCAT Score (Matriculants):	512	502
Average acceptance rate	44.7%	31.2%
Application	Primary & Secondary Application + Interviews	Primary & Secondary Application + Interviews
Application Requirements	- AMCAS Application - Transcript - MCAT score - Personal statement - School-specific requirements - Letters of recommendation	- AACOMAS Application - Transcript - MCAT score - Personal statement - School-specific requirements - Letters of recommendation
Personal Statement Prompt	Explain why you want to go into medical school	Why osteopathic medicine and why do you want to become a doctor
Medical School	Two pre-clinical years + 2 clinical years	Two pre-clinical years + 2 clinical years 200 - 500 hours studying osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM)
Residency	National Residency Match Program (USMLE)	Either National Residency Match (USMLE) OR Osteopathic Residency (COMLEX) Program
Surgery percentages	92% of 2018 MD graduates went into plastic, neurological, and orthopedic surgery	7% of 2018 DO graduates went into general surgery, while 13% were matched with orthopedic surgery residencies

- In 2020, 94% of allopathic graduates were matched, while 85% of osteopathic students received an MD residency placement.

- 56% of participating osteopathic graduates choose primary care. Family medicine was second.

- American Medical Association recognizes and promotes USMLE and COMLEX exams equally.

Allopathic Medical Programs

Years of Schooling Required to Become an Allopathic Physician:

11+ years of education

Undergraduate Preparation (~4 years);
Medical School (4 years);
Residency (3-7 years);
Fellowship (1+ year, optional).

Many schools require a bachelor’s degree. Although not all schools list a bachelor’s degree as a requirement, few students are admitted without one. Completing a bachelor's degree is highly recommended for those schools that do not require a bachelor’s degree. Admission to medical schools is highly competitive, and a bachelor’s degree significantly strengthens a student’s application and provides students with greater options for advancement and career opportunities.

Choosing a Major for Professional Schools in Health

Degree Conferred

Upon completion of medical school, students are awarded the Doctor of Medicine (MD).

UH Mānoa Applicant Statistics

	Applicants	Accepted	% of Applicants Accepted
2023	174	69	39%
2022	157	65	41%
2021	217	59	27%

Based on data from the National Association of Academic Advisors for Health Professions (NAAHP).

Allopathic Medical Program in Hawai’i:

UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM)

Gap Year

Students may take a gap year after graduating with their undergraduate degree. A “gap year” is the period between the end of your undergraduate education and the start of your professional school. A gap year might be a year or more, depending on each person’s circumstances. Students may choose to participate in longer-term engagement activities during their gap year. Taking a gap year would change when to apply to professional school, please see a PAC peer advisor to help you plan when to apply and fit in a gap year experience.

AAMC Advice

Post-Baccalaureate and Special Masters Programs

There are many Post-Baccalaureate and Special Master's Programs offered across the nation. Although these programs vary greatly in terms of degree offerings, course curriculum, and program duration, they are all geared to help students prepare for professional school by taking relevant graduate-level courses or meeting the necessary prerequisite courses for their intended program.

Imi Ho`ōla Post-Baccalaureate Program
- 12-month educational program
- Addresses disadvantaged students' academic and social-emotional needs
- Goal: increase diversity in the physician workforce and produce physicians who demonstrate a strong commitment to practicing in underserved communities
- PAC Workshop Recording
Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Programs

Combined Degree Programs

Many medical schools offer combined degree programs: MD/PhD to combine medicine with research or teaching; MD/JD to combine medicine with law; MD/MBA to combine medicine with business administration; MD/MPH to combine medicine with public health; and so on. Combined degrees can be offered concurrently, sequentially, or in combination, often extending the number of years in medical school.

MD/PhD Program Information
Search for schools with Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) Database
MSAR Combined Degree Information (2024)*

*It is highly recommended that you research the schools you're interested in to confirm whether the information has changed.

Medical School and Licensure

What to Expect in Medical School

Medical schools use a variety of curricula, including lecture-, systems-, and problem-based learning (PBL), or hybrid. Traditionally, medical education has followed a 2+2 model (2 years of basic sciences plus 2 years of clinical rotations), although many schools are moving towards integrating science and clinical instruction throughout the four years of medical school.

AAMC Article: “What Medical School is Like”
JABSOM's Problem Based Learning (PBL) Demonstrations
- Due to COVID-19 demonstrations are via Zoom
- Held twice a year (August/December)
- Highly recommended if you are applying/planning to apply to JABSOM

The Licensing Examination(s)

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is a 3-step examination for medical licensure in the United States.

Step 1: End of 2nd year
Step 2: In 4th year and assists in determining admission to residency programs “The Match”
Step 3: After graduation as new MDs work as residents

MDs must apply for licensure from the medical boards of their state before they can become fully licensed. All physicians must be licensed to practice.

USMLE Commercial Test Prep Company

*Note PAC does not endorse any particular test preparation resource and this is not an exhaustive list.

Cram Fighter

Careers in Medicine

Allopathic medicine is a field with a variety of specialties that concentrate on different areas of the body. Specialties can include but are not limited to anesthesiology, dermatology, pathology, pediatrics, radiology, surgery, etc. Choosing a specialty is one of the most important decisions a prospective physician makes as it decides which residency program to apply to.

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