paths in front of you. Go to college, take the  MCAT, and hopefully get into medical school,  

or go the BS/MD route, shortening your  training and streamlining the process.  

Should you go BS/MD or the traditional  path? I'll help you decide.

Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

It's common knowledge that the path to becoming  a doctor is one with countless hoops to jump  

through. To streamline the journey, a number of  medical schools now offer early admission pathways  

through combined bachelor and medicine degree  programs — that's either a BS or BA combined  

with an MD or DO through a single acceptance.  For many students and their concerned parents,  

these programs are a relief from the uncertainty  of the traditional drawn out process.

The most commonly talked about benefit  is the fact that many combined degree  

programs accelerate the process. Traditionally,  earning your bachelor's degree takes 4 years,  

and medical school is another 4 as well, for  a total of 8. A large number of BS/MD programs  

stick to the 8 year timeline, but many truncate it  to 7, and a couple even to 6, with the shortening  

primarily coming from the bachelor degree portion.  However, note that some of these programs require  

taking summer courses in order to cram an  undergraduate education into 3 or fewer years,  

which many find worthwhile considering the  tuition savings and fewer years spent in school.

Second, there's no medical  school application process,  

which is a point many celebrate. Transitioning  from undergraduate university to medical school  

is a painless process, so long as you  meet a minimum GPA requirement, which is  

lower than what you'd be aiming for if you were  applying to medical school the traditional way.

Not only does that mean you entirely avoid  the time intensive and stressful process of  

applying to medical school, but you'll also save  thousands of dollars, as the application process  

is not cheap. Note, however, that if you are in  financial need, you may qualify for the AAMC FAP,  

or fee assistance program, to cover  some of these out of pocket expenses.

Third, the dreaded MCAT. Many BS/MD programs  either do not require you to take the MCAT  

at all to continue on to medical school, or  they have a score cutoff that's lower than  

their general matriculant. Again,  you're saving big on time, money,  

and stress related to preparing for such an  important test. Most students take between  

3 and 6 months to study for the MCAT,  spend hundreds to thousands of dollars,  

and you'll be hard pressed to find someone  who didn't find the process highly stressful.

And last, BS/MD programs lift  a weight off your shoulders.  

While your premed colleagues going the  traditional route are stressing about  

trying to achieve straight A's or strategizing  on their extracurriculars and research time,  

you'll have a streamlined and lower stress  experience. Sure, you'll still have to take the  

standard medical school prerequisite courses, such  as biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry,  

physics, and the like, but you won't have to take  several additional classes to fulfill a specific  

major's requirements. And again, you don't have to  apply to medical school with a near perfect GPA,  

as long as you meet your program's  cutoffs, which is often around 3.5.

While the benefits are easy to appreciate,  they're more short term focused. When you  

zoom out and take a step back, you'll begin to  notice some of the more substantial drawbacks of  

BS/MD programs that make them a less optimal  choice for many aspiring future physicians.

Perhaps the most significant and noteworthy  drawback to BS/MD programs is the fact that  

it requires students to commit to a lifelong  career before having adequate exposure and  

maturity to realistically make a well reasoned  decision. Think about it — at 16, 17, or 18,  

with limited exposure to various career  paths, they're fully committing to one  

that's incredibly arduous, challenging,  and difficult to escape once you're in it.

I'll remind you that medicine is certainly  not for everyone, as doctors have some of  

the highest rates of burnout and depression.  This is in part due to the massive mismatch  

between public perception and the reality  of being a physician — a mismatch I strive  

to resolve between this and my other YouTube  channel. This drawback cannot be overstated,  

and making such a decision as a  teenager should be done with caution.

It's no secret that many BS/MD programs are at  institutions looking to lock in apprehensive  

applicants who would probably not look their  way if encountered in the regular application  

cycle. The students typically accepted  into BS/MD programs are ambitious,  

and generally have options to attend other  highly ranked traditional universities. If  

these students weren't capable of getting  into that medical school on their own,  

the medical school would have little  incentive to maintain the BS/MD program.  

The winner in the BS/MD contract is  more so the school than the student.

Many of these students find themselves applying  out of the same medical school for which they  

obtained early admission in, because they realize  they can gain acceptance into a highly ranked  

medical school or one that provides higher  value to them, whether that be in location,  

cost, or other factors we've discussed in our  video on choosing the best medical school for you.

And while the politically correct thing to say  is that all medical school are equal and provide  

the same education, at Med School Insiders we  care more about the facts than your feelings.  

There are distinct advantages and disadvantages  tied to school ranking and prestige.

If you go the BS/MD route, you'll be missing  out on a more typical college experience.  

And as most college graduates will tell you,  college can be the catalyst to some of the most  

transformative years of your life. You owe it  to yourself to search out the best environment  

for personal growth and development. Is the  university associated with the BS/MD program  

the best for you, or some other university in the  traditional pathway? Where are you more likely  

to connect with people that will help you grow,  learn, and serve as valuable allies in the future?

Just as important, it's crucial you understand  that not all stress is bad. Healthy amounts  

of stress are conducive to growth. By going  down the BS/MD path, you'll be less likely to  

develop the key study strategies and productivity  tactics required to operate at the highest level,  

simply due to the fact that you'll have it easier.  You won't have the same pressure to perform at the  

highest level in your classes or to crush your  MCAT. That means when you start medical school,  

your study strategies won't be as strong as they  would have been going down the traditional path.

Reflecting on my own time in college, it  was the necessity of doing the best I could  

that pushed me to grow, explore my limits,  and achieve more than I thought possible.  

I overshot my MCAT score goal and  reached the elusive 99.9th percentile,  

which not only helped me hone my focus and  test taking skills, but also instilled genuine  

confidence in myself that I could exceed even my  own expectations. This was a priceless intangible  

lesson that gave me the momentum to keep pushing  myself further in medical school. And believe it  

or not, studying for the MCAT also taught me that  learning and studying intensely could actually  

be enjoyable, which obviously had a multitude  of beneficial compounding effects downstream.

BS/MD programs are a fast track path  for high performing students who are  

absolutely certain they want to attend  medical school and become a doctor.  

While the benefits are often highlighted,  one should not overlook their drawbacks.  

There's no right or wrong here, as  this is a highly personal decision.

If you need help deciding on the BS/MD  path or strengthening your application,  

visit us on MedSchoolInsiders.com. Our philosophy  is to do right by the customer and offer  

as much value as possible, with the idea  that if we stick to that as our north star,  

the business side will take care of  itself. Following this principle,  

we've blown up in popularity with now over  2900 customers, over half of which were in the  

last year alone. What's more, we consistently  have industry leading satisfaction rates and  

student success. Learn more about the Med School  Insiders difference at MedSchoolInsiders.com.

Thank you all so much for watching.  If you enjoyed this video,  

you'll enjoy my videos about  deciding on a medical school or  

why you should be cautious of your college premed  advisors. Much love, and I'll see you guys there.