Pre-Medicine
MD / DO • Prepare for medical school admission. UT Austin feeds directly into Dell Medical School and top MD/DO programs nationwide.
~3.73 avg
AAMC 2024
Avg Applicant GPA
700-1,500+ total clinical hrs
Typical Experience
12 courses
Required Courses
5 areas
Key Experiences
Required Courses
Click any course to see who teaches itThese courses are required by most MD / DO programs.
View all Pre-Medicine classes →Recommended Courses
Not required but strengthen your application significantly.
Key Experiences Needed
How applicants actually build each one. Not just what to do, but how.
Paid clinical experience
- 1Get certified for a hands-on role: EMT, CNA, medical assistant (MA), patient care tech, or phlebotomy, most are 1-4 month courses at Austin Community College
- 2Work the paid job during school or over summers. This is how most applicants get their clinical hours, not by volunteering
- 3Medical scribing is another strong paid option and teaches you charting and clinical reasoning
Physician shadowing
- 1Email your own doctor or use Ascension Seton / Austin Regional Clinic contacts to ask about shadowing
- 2Shadow 3-4 different specialties so you can speak to why medicine
- 3Log every hour with the date and physician name (shadowing is observation-only and unpaid)
Research
- 1Join the Freshman Research Initiative, or email professors sophomore year
- 2Stay in one lab for 1-2 years instead of hopping around
- 3Aim to present at the Undergraduate Research Forum
Non-clinical service
- 1Pick one cause you actually care about (tutoring, food security, mentoring)
- 2Stay consistent, depth beats a long list
- 3Grow into a leadership role over time
MCAT prep
- 1Take it after finishing orgo + biochem (junior spring or the summer after)
- 2Study 3-4 months with a full-length practice test every week
- 3Use the free UT Learning Center MCAT study groups
Build your Pre-Medicine plan
Map your courses by semester & plan your experiences →
Quick Links
💡 UT Austin Advantage
Dell Medical School sits right on campus, and its Health Leadership Apprentice Program lets UT undergrads of any major work alongside its faculty on real health projects. Pair that with Dell Seton, UT's teaching hospital, for clinical volunteering and the Freshman Research Initiative for first-year lab access, and much of a competitive application is within walking distance. (There's no admissions shortcut into Dell Med, but few campuses put this much clinical and research access this close.)
📍 Austin Resources
- • Dell Seton Medical Center (volunteering)
- • UT Health Austin (clinical)
- • CommUnityCare clinics
- • Austin-Travis County EMS
- • UTEMS (on-campus)