I recently accompanied a friend to the ophthalmologist for a procedure. I noticed in the office the doctor had his diplomas displayed. He had a Doctor of Medicine of course but he also had a “Bachelor of Science in Medicine”. Both were from Northwestern. I never heard of such a bachelor’s degree designation. Is this unique to Northwestern or an outdated designation? The doctor was about 45 years old so college was some time ago.
I am not familiar with Bachelor of Science in Medicine from places in the US. The people I know who have those degrees, and who are now licensed to practice medicine here, earned them outside the US.
A quick Google shows Bachelor of Science in Medicine as one of the degrees awarded by Northwestern’s School of Medicine. But I don’t find an easy link to details. Maybe it is just part of a seven year BS/MD?
^ Not part of HPME these days but possible that a forerunner program gave a bachelor’s in medicine.
Students who go to medical school after three years of undergrad often will get this BS degree once they finish their first year of medical school. The medicine refers to the major, earned once they complete a year of medical school. There were several students in my eons ago medical school class who got their bachelors’ degree once they finished that first year. This way they at least have a BS even if they do not finish medical school. Some students are in programs that are undergrad followed by medical school if they keep their grades up, others choose to apply before finishing a school’s degree requirements.
You may see some physicians from other countries with diplomas that are different than ours. In India an MBBS degree is equivalent to our MD degree. My H has one. They do not do a degree program like we do with an undergrad major but start from HS and go six years. All foreign medical school grads will go through a US residency, btw. Even though they may not have gone further in their home country to add their country’s MD designation I find it valid for them to put MD after their names here since the degree they have translates to our MD.
btw- I met requirements for both the BA and the BS from my undergrad school and chose the BA- with honors in Chemistry. I liked the white tassel better than the yellow. Those students with the BS in medicine did not get to do a major outside of medicine, they spent one less year of school perhaps but missed out on delving into a different field.
Update!
Took my friend back to the doctor for a follow up visit. Got to speak to the doctor. He did go through HPME at Northwestern but back then the Bachelor’s degree was awarded through the medical school. It has since changed.
He was surprised that I knew HPME!
The University of Cincinnati has a BS in Medical Sciences.
For some clarification, the common British or Commonwealth basic medical qualification requires the award of two degrees after 6 years undergraduate study, i.e. MB BS (or MB ChB) where the BS or ChB means bachelor of surgery (not science), and the MB part means bachelor of medicine. The degrees are never awarded separately. The MD is a research degree usually less than PhD equivalent.