I have a pre-med junior planning to apply at the end of this school year (no gap). It would have been impossible to study abroad for him with the pre-reqs needed to be taken in the US, labs, clinical, and volunteering. Summer program or junior year semester abroad if you are taking a gap year is manageable.

Be aware that many of the prerequisites are sequential. For example, you can't take Orgo II until you complete Orgo I. Some schools don't offer Orgo I every semester. I would consult with your current school to see how many kids are making the schedule work and graduate on time and without a gap year.

My DS, who went to med school, had a science class + lab most semesters. It's very time consuming. I don't know about the prerequisites for PA school. Perhaps some of the science classes overlap? Lots to think about.

Since a STEM UG student, DC got paid and housed for the summer doing an internship at Queen's University UK.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a freshman looking at going abroad for a semester. A challenge is that they are planning on going to PA school or med school after undergrad. They've been told that all pre-pa/pre-med courses need to be taken in the US. So, they couldn't work towards that goal at all during the semester abroad, but just knock out the other credits. That seems very limiting for the other semesters. There are summer programs, but DC always envisioned spending a semester in Europe. Did your pre-med/pre-pa kid successful navigate this process? Did it require summer classes for the pre-reqs?

This is pretty normal for most majors. They make it work.

It's actually not pretty normal for kids planning on going to med school or pa school right out of undergrad. Not all majors or post-grad schools have the same requirements. It's so much easier if you are a math, business or humanities major.

Almost all PA schools require that the pre-reqs be taken in the US or Canada. They can't take any of the sciences abroad and I'm pretty sure that also includes the psych and stats classes. DC was hoping that AP credits would mean graduating early, but it seems you have to choose between early graduation and semester abroad. I think this is why they push the summer programs so much.

It's much easier to study abroad as a spanish or history major than on a pre-health track in the biological sciences.

I think (tour was a bit ago) St. Louis University has a program in Madrid that enables pre-health students to study abroad.

It might be something to look into.

I know that there is also a semester that University of Michigan facilitates: https://mcompass.umich.edu/_portal/tds-program-brochure?programid=12266

A lot of premed kids at liberal arts colleges manage it!

I posted the links above, some of which my pre-med kid and their friends went on. I'll try to think of some more. Most of them were pretty on top of it and by the time junior year or even senior fall rolled around, they had completed most of the core prerequisites. Most anticipated taking a gap year or two to catch up on clinical hours or MCAT studying, though a couple went straight into medical school (which did necessitate MCAT study while abroad). Reach out to your college's study abroad office/advisor and pre-health advisor as soon as possible to get some help with planning. A couple did complete summer courses just to stay on top of things.

DIS Scandinavia
https://disabroad.org/program/medical-practice-policy/

Maastricht https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/education/courses/public-health-medicine-europe

It's very rare for premed to take off a semester studying abroad. You are adding more stress to an already highly stressful process. It's not just the required courses, that's the easy part. But all the research, clinical, volunteering, etc. That being said, as a PP pointed out, it's doable if you are planning to take a gap year or two.

There aren't that many pre-med required courses. You can easily fit a semester abroad and take all required classes at your home college. However, I would invite you to review how MD and DO schools will look at the foreign courses, speifically their inclusion in AMCAS and AACAMOS. Those sites give you a ton of information.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a freshman looking at going abroad for a semester. A challenge is that they are planning on going to PA school or med school after undergrad. They've been told that all pre-pa/pre-med courses need to be taken in the US. So, they couldn't work towards that goal at all during the semester abroad, but just knock out the other credits. That seems very limiting for the other semesters. There are summer programs, but DC always envisioned spending a semester in Europe. Did your pre-med/pre-pa kid successful navigate this process? Did it require summer classes for the pre-reqs?

This is pretty normal for most majors. They make it work.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a freshman looking at going abroad for a semester. A challenge is that they are planning on going to PA school or med school after undergrad. They've been told that all pre-pa/pre-med courses need to be taken in the US. So, they couldn't work towards that goal at all during the semester abroad, but just knock out the other credits. That seems very limiting for the other semesters. There are summer programs, but DC always envisioned spending a semester in Europe. Did your pre-med/pre-pa kid successful navigate this process? Did it require summer classes for the pre-reqs?

You can do it if planning on a gap year, but almost impossible if kid is planning to apply at the end of junior year. Over 70% of applicants now have taken a gap year, so it is doable.

My DC is a freshman looking at going abroad for a semester. A challenge is that they are planning on going to PA school or med school after undergrad. They've been told that all pre-pa/pre-med courses need to be taken in the US. So, they couldn't work towards that goal at all during the semester abroad, but just knock out the other credits. That seems very limiting for the other semesters. There are summer programs, but DC always envisioned spending a semester in Europe. Did your pre-med/pre-pa kid successful navigate this process? Did it require summer classes for the pre-reqs?