I am really interested in osteopathic medicine but I’m not exactly sure how it works… Specifically at Liberty University. Do you have to major in something else before you go in? Would you get your BS in nursing first?
Well, you will have to major in “something” in order to graduate. Many kids major in a science. Begin your search by looking at the Liberty website. It will detail the prerequisites required to attend their school.
Liberty lists their requirements below. Nothing about nursing. Chem and bio are common premed majors, but anything is ok really. Many schools like humanities majors lately because they have good critical thinking skills.
You can major in anything you want if you are going to be a D.O. or a M.D. You would want to take the premed sequence no matter what you major in. You might like to check out the medical and premed forums offered here.
Generally you would not major in nursing before going to medical school. Nursing has too many specific requirements and two years of clinical work so you would not have “room” to take the pre-med sequence of courses you would need to apply to med school.
Basically you’re a pre-med student hoping to get into a D.O. or MD program – like many thousands of others. As posters above have said, a Nursing degree isn’t a requirement (although I’ve known several nurses who eventually went to med school and became DOs or MDs.)
I'm actually surprised that Liberty was able to put together an accredited Osteopathic medical school. Do they make everyone swear off evolution before getting their white coat? Do they use accurate models of developing fetuses or the inaccurate ones they use for anti-choice protests?
Ahh, I see they only have provisional accreditation and have just started their 2nd year of students. (http://www.liberty.edu/lucom/index.cfm?PID=28956) (http://www.osteopathic.org/inside-aoa/about/affiliates/Pages/provisional-accreditation.aspx)
The school would probably make an interesting case study on the intersection of religion and medicine.