All else being equal I think it makes more sense to let people go through an undergraduate degree first as opposed to combining that with med school. I think i

All else being equal I think it makes more sense to let people go through an undergraduate degree first as opposed to combining that with med school. I think it’s better to have discrete units: 1. you have more people who just never make it into med school but still have an accredited undergraduate degree vs more people failing out of med school after taking out loans. 2. You don’t need to know you want to be a doctor at 16 or 17 years old. 3. Med school is much more expensive than undergrad on average, so even if it takes longer, it’s still likely going to be cheaper. Sure med schools could make the first few years cheaper, but they won’t unless forced. 4. It makes it more likely that doctors socialize with non-doctors and get a chance to pursue non-medical interests. One of the biggest complaints about doctors is that they lack empathy—taking people directly from high school and ensuring that they pretty much only socialize with other doctors for 8-10 years definitely isn’t going to help that.