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Medicine

The MD degree — four years of professional doctorate, then residency. ⚠⚠ Six Florida public institutions award it and they produced 757 credentials in 2023, 749 of them professional doctorates: USF 179, UF 149, FSU 125, UCF 122, FIU 118, FAU 64. ⚠⚠⚠ And there is no undergraduate major requirement anywhere in the process — AAMC's own data shows the three majors with the HIGHEST acceptance rates are mathematics, humanities and the physical sciences.

The degrees this program covers
⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS NO PRE-MED MAJOR, AND THE DATA SAYS CHOOSING ONE THAT SOUNDS MEDICAL IS THE WORST OPTION. AAMC Table A-17 for academic year 2025-26 records 54,699 applicants and 23,440 matriculants — an overall rate of 42.9%. By major group: mathematics and statistics 57.3%, humanities 52.0%, physical sciences 51.3%, social sciences 42.3%, biological sciences 42.1%, other 40.7%, and ⚠⚠ SPECIALIZED HEALTH SCIENCES 40.3% — the lowest in the table. ⚠ Biological sciences supplies 32,038 of the 54,699 applicants, 58.6% of the field, at a below-average rate. ⚠⚠⚠ Read the caution with the finding: these are selection effects and the small groups are self-selected — mathematics and statistics is only 335 applicants. And MATRICULANT scores CONVERGE (biological sciences 511.9 total MCAT, humanities 513.0, all matriculants 512.1), so the bar is the same everywhere; what differs is who clears it. ⚠ The honest claim is narrow: the data gives no support to choosing a major BECAUSE it sounds medical. ⚠⚠ WHAT IS ACTUALLY REQUIRED is the prerequisite COURSEWORK, not a major — general biology with laboratory, general and organic chemistry with laboratories, biochemistry, physics with laboratory, mathematics through calculus or statistics, psychology, sociology and composition. Florida's public colleges carry all of it, most at 15 to 39 institutions. ⚠⚠⚠ The exception is BCH3023 Biochemistry, carried by only SEVEN institutions and upper division — the one prerequisite likely to force a transfer.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Biologist and Biological Technician
⚠⚠⚠ Begin with the arithmetic. Florida awards about 5,000 biology bachelor's a year; the biological-scientist occupations hire roughly 13,800 people a year NATIONALLY, and two-thirds of those openings are technician roles at a $57,510 median. ⚠⚠ That is not an argument against the degree — it is an argument for knowing what it is FOR. In practice a Florida biology bachelor's is a preparation for professional school, a research doctorate, teaching or a laboratory career that starts at technician level, and the state's own enrolment data already shows it.
 Chemist and Chemical Technician
⚠⚠⚠ The question this page answers is whether you need a doctorate, and the data is unusually clear: 30% of working chemists report one as required — the highest doctoral share of any occupation on this site — while 56% report a bachelor's. They are two different careers and the choice has to be made in the second undergraduate year. ⚠⚠ Also here: the chemical TECHNICIAN route has 7,600 annual openings on an associate degree, more than chemists and materials scientists combined.
 Physician
⚠⚠⚠ There is no pre-medical major, and AAMC's own numbers say the medical-sounding one is the worst choice. Of 54,699 applicants in 2025-26, 58.6% majored in biological sciences and were admitted at 42.1% against an overall 42.9% — while mathematics and statistics reached 57.3%, humanities 52.0% and physical sciences 51.3%. ⚠⚠ Specialized health sciences came LAST at 40.3%. Six Florida public medical schools award 757 degrees a year.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Physician Assistant Studies 6 Florida schools
⚠⚠ The comparison most pre-medical students eventually make, and it should be made on structure rather than prestige. Two to three years against four plus a residency of three to seven, and a PA can change specialty without retraining where a physician cannot. ⚠ Six Florida public PA programmes against six medical schools — the same number, very different lengths.
Advanced Practice Nursing 9 Florida schools
⚠⚠⚠ Named because of one striking comparison: nurse anesthetists number 53,800 nationally against 45,300 anesthesiologists, with 2,700 annual openings against 1,300. ⚠ The nursing occupation is LARGER than the physician one it works alongside, and reaching it takes an RN licence plus a doctorate rather than medical school plus a four-year residency.
Public Health 14 Florida schools
⚠ The MD/MPH is a common combination and public health is where a substantial share of physicians end up working on policy, epidemiology and population programmes. ⚠⚠ Florida teaches it at 8 institutions, all universities, with 579 master's degrees a year.
Health Care Administration 24 Florida schools
⚠ Not a route into medicine, but an increasingly common route out of clinical practice: physician executives are counted inside the medical and health services manager occupation. ⚠⚠ Named because a student weighing a twelve-year training path should know what the exits look like.
Medical Laboratory Science 14 Florida schools
⚠ Named as one of the honest alternatives rather than a route. It uses the same chemistry and biology prerequisites, is a licensed profession in Florida, reaches $82,280 on a bachelor's, and takes four years rather than twelve. ⚠⚠ A student who loves the science but not the twelve years should look at it before deciding.
Biology and Biomedical Sciences 15 Florida schools
⚠⚠⚠ The real destination of a large share of this degree, and the data says so: 1,487 of Florida's 5,274 biology credentials are BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES, an explicitly pre-health track. ⚠ Florida's six public medical schools admit a few hundred students a year against that; the arithmetic is worth doing before committing.
Chemistry and Biochemistry 10 Florida schools
⚠⚠ A route a large share of chemistry majors are actually taking, whether or not the department says so. The organic sequence and biochemistry are medical, dental and pharmacy prerequisites, and CHM2210 is carried by 29 Florida public institutions largely because of it. ⚠ If this is your plan, say so early — the course order differs from a chemist's.
Pharmacy (Doctor of Pharmacy) 3 Florida schools
⚠ The other prescriber-side health doctorate. The science prerequisites overlap heavily.

Florida public institutions offering this program

6 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Doctorate (professional practice), Post-master's certificate. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Florida Atlantic University
Doctorate (professional practice)
Florida International University
Doctorate (professional practice)
Florida State University
Doctorate (professional practice)
University of Central Florida
Doctorate (professional practice)
University of Florida
Doctorate (professional practice) · Post-master's certificate
University of South Florida
Doctorate (professional practice)

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.