Letters and Pre-Med

Since medical professionals confront all aspects of the human condition in their work—from birth to death and everything in between—it makes sense for them to have a strong background in the humanities, so that they can draw on the collective wisdom of those who have pondered and struggled with what it means to be human.

Galen and Hippocrates
(courtesy of Nina Aldin Thune)

For these reasons, the Letters major is a perfect choice for students considering a career in medicine. Built on the core disciplines of the humanities—history, literature, philosophy, and language—the Letters major is ideal for developing the abiities that future medical professionals will need: “acquiring, synthesizing, applying, and communicating information through a wide variety of disciplines” (MSAR, p. 11).

In addition to fulfilling the general requirements of the college, students in Letters must complete 36 semester hours of major credit courses in history, literature, and philosophy, electing at least nine hours in each division. Twenty-seven of the thirty-six hours must be in upper-division work.

Rembrandt: "Doctor Nicolaes Tulp's
Demonstration of the Anatomy of the Arm"

The student must complete courses in one ancient and one modern language either at the secondary or collegiate level. At least one intermediate-level course in one of the languages and two intermediate-level courses in the other language must be included. The students also must complete a course in the history or appreciation of one of the fine arts.

Many courses taken to satisfy general education requirements can also be applied towards a Letters major, so pre-med students will have plenty of time to take the pre-requisite science courses for medical school. That means that an undergraduate can be well on his or her way to a degree in Letters simply by selecting the right gen-ed courses, leaving plenty of time to take the science or math courses required for admission to medical school.

Since the Letters major offers the flexibility to design a unique curriculum, pre-med students can select courses that will prepare them for the challenges that they will face in the medical profession. Courses in ethics or the history of science have obvious relevance to medicine, but courses in other areas of the humanities can also help pre-med students examine both the nature of medicine and their reasons for pursuing it as a career.

Consider these words from the 2009-2010 MSAR (11–12):

Choosing science primarily to enhance one’s chances for admission to medical school is not in a student’s long-term best interest. Medical school admission committees seek students whose intellectual curiosity leads them to a variety of disciplines and whose intellectual maturity assures that their efforts are persistent and disciplined. … In fact, practicing physicians often recommend that premedical students, during their college years, take advantage of what might be their final opportunity for study in non-science areas (e.g., music, art, history, and literature) that might become the basis for avocational interests later in life.

If the Letters program intrigues you, please contact one of our advisors today to find out more about Letters and Pre-Med.

• Peggy Chambers (pchambers at ou dot edu, 325-4931)
• Cheryl Walker-Esbaugh (Walker-Esbaugh at ou dot edu, 325-3478)
• John Hansen (jhansen at ou dot edu, 325-8156)
• Samuel J. Huskey (huskey at ou dot edu, 325-0490)