Find my path
All pathways
MD

Traditional medicine

Undergraduate preparation → MD → residency

Your MD pathway

Doctor of Medicine

The traditional US MD route builds on undergraduate study and leads to a Doctor of Medicine degree. Medical school combines foundational science, clinical clerkships and advanced clinical training before residency. It is a physician pathway, not an undergraduate major.

Doctors and a student discussing clinical training
Entry point
Undergraduate preparation
Training length
Usually 4 years of medical school
When to apply
Usually the summer after junior year of college, or later.

Your route at a glance

  1. 01

    Bachelor's degree + prerequisites

  2. 02

    MCAT

  3. 03

    Apply to MD schools

  4. 04

    4 years of medical school

  5. 05

    Residency

Your preparation

  • Audit each school's coursework requirements. Biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, writing and laboratory work are common, but course and competency policies differ.
  • Prepare for the MCAT where required; check accepted test dates and each school's policy rather than relying on a universal score cutoff.
  • Build sustained clinical exposure and community service. Reflect on what you learned about patients, teamwork and the realities of medicine.
  • Arrange recommendations, transcripts and a thoughtful personal statement. Research can be valuable, but there is no universal required hour count.

Your application

  • Check whether each school uses AMCAS, TMDSAS or its own process.
  • Submit the primary application, transcripts and letters; complete school-specific secondary applications and interviews.
  • Work backward from the current cycle's official dates. Verification, letters and testing can take time; a personal target is not an official deadline.

Your training & progression

  • Complete preclinical and clinical requirements and the required licensing examinations.
  • Apply for residency through the relevant application and match systems. Specialty training length varies.
  • Medical school graduation alone does not grant independent practice; postgraduate training and jurisdiction-specific licensing requirements remain.

What to weigh before you commit

  • Schools differ on citizenship, residency, international coursework and financial documentation.
  • Evaluate total cost of attendance, debt, mission fit, learning environment and clinical placement locations.
  • GPA and MCAT ranges describe past classes, not guaranteed admission or universal minimums.

Which one, and why

MD and DO graduates are both fully licensed physicians and enter the same residency match. DO adds osteopathic principles and manipulative medicine; MD is the larger, more international credential.

Who signs your letters

3 to 4, or a committee packet letters, uploaded by the writers through AMCAS Letter Service or Interfolio Dossier.

  • 2 science professors required

  • Non-science professor required

    A pre-health committee letter or packet can replace the individual letters where your school offers one.

Residency and match

Residency, 3 to 7 years by specialty. NRMP Main Residency Match.

  1. June to September

    ERAS opens; token, documents, letters requested

  2. September

    Applications released to programs

  3. October to February

    Interviews, mostly virtual

  4. February

    Rank order list certified

  5. March

    Match Week: SOAP for the unmatched, then Match Day

Boards: USMLE Step 1; USMLE Step 2 CK; USMLE Step 3 during residency.

Interviews and travel

October to February: Virtual MMI, panel or traditional; optional in-person second looks, scheduled through Thalamus, Interview Broker, ERAS. Little travel for virtual interviews; budget for optional second looks in January and February.

Across every profession: residency and the match, letters, interviews and travel, fellowships.

See the destination

This route leads to residency. Watch real Match Day ceremonies, where students learn where they will train.

Watch Match Day

Can you apply?

Citizenship and residency decide which US and Canadian schools will read your application. Check your status before you pay any fees.

Citizenship and eligibility checker

Your MCAT score

What your score means as a percentile, planning targets, the official attempt limits and when a retake is worth it.

MCAT and DAT scores and retakes

From the knowledge base

Your next three steps

  1. 1.Make a school-by-school prerequisite checklist.
  2. 2.Set a realistic MCAT and application timeline.
  3. 3.Discuss your preparation with a pre-health adviser.
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