While most students who come to Marquette have a general idea of what a physician does, we encourage students to thoroughly explore the field while they are undergraduates. A clear understanding of the field and exposure to medicine are critical to ensure that students are making the right career choice.
Admission to medical school is competitive, and your faculty and advisors at Marquette University will help you as you actively explore ways to make yourself a successful applicant. There are many factors that make an applicant successful, but three major components are strong academics, experiences as an undergraduate and letters of recommendation. Marquette University students have a major advantage in these areas; our undergraduates are academically prepared and perform well on the MCAT, and Marquette University and Milwaukee provide ample opportunity for diverse clinical and service experiences, research, shadowing and leadership opportunities.
After completing an undergraduate degree at Marquette University, students who are accepted to medical school complete four years of medical education, then an additional three-seven years of residency depending on which area of medicine they decide to pursue. Some medical specialties require additional fellowship training after residency.
Students who want to become physicians can choose either allopathic (MD) medicine or osteopathic (DO) medicine. Both osteopathic and allopathic physicians can specialize in any one of the hundreds of medical or surgical specialty areas. For more information on allopathic medical schools, visit www.aamc.org, and for more information on osteopathic medical schools, visit www.aacom.org.
