Program in Liberal Medical Education

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

The 8-year Program in Liberal Medical Education was inaugurated in 1984. Since 1963, the university had offered a 6-year combined undergraduate/Master of Medical Science program.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> The PLME program was originally the primary route of admission to the Alpert Medical School, until the medical school began accepting pre-medical students through the standard <a href="/facts/American_Medical_College_Application_Service/mXBBUESa">AMCAS</a> admission route in 2004.
According to the university, the goal of the program is to combine the <a href="/facts/Open_Curriculum_(Brown_University)/SkPpJ7qY">Open Curriculum</a> of the College and the competency-based curriculum concept of the Alpert Medical School to encourage students of medicine to pursue in depth their interests in the <a href="/facts/Humanities/nErauGkd">humanities</a>, <a href="/facts/Social_science/hAbm1xtD">social sciences</a>, and <a href="/facts/Natural_science/8hg81Q2p">natural sciences</a> through a <a href="/facts/Liberal_education/pVHkatvl">liberal education</a> philosophy as they prepare for their careers as physicians.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> Julianne Ip, M.D., Associate Dean of Medicine for PLME, described the program as a way to "accept the 'best' high school students who would utilize Brown, and the College’s unique Open Curriculum to craft their own educational paths. These individualized educational plans would allow students to pursue their passions be they in science or liberal arts but always with the view of medicine as a humanitarian pursuit, not a “trade” to be learned."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

<h2 id="admissions">Admissions</h2>
Because the PLME draws applicants from around the U.S. and internationally, its applicant pool is significantly larger than those of most other BS/MD programs, which receive primarily in-state applications.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> With large numbers of applicants competing for very few spots, the program consistently reports a low acceptance rate. For the undergraduate class of 2026, 3,827 high school students applied and 84 were admitted, yielding an acceptance rate of 2.19%.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a> The average SAT scores of matriculants between 2019 and 2022 were 748 in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 779 in Math.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a>

<h2 id="notable-alumni">Notable alumni</h2>
Graduates from the PLME are alumni of Brown University, but members of the program specifically have become prominent figures in the medicine and health world as well as in other areas.

<ul><li>Barrett Bready, (B.A. 1999, M.D. 2003) – president and CEO, <a href="/facts/Nanopore_sequencing/oEAWa4IB">NabSys</a>, a DNA-sequencing startup which employs technology developed at Brown</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Atul_Butte/17V9DDjr">Atul Butte</a>, (B.A. 1991, M.D. 1995) – Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor, <a href="/facts/University_of_California%2c_San_Francisco/tPU2yHuW">University of California, San Francisco</a>; biotechnology entrepreneur</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Bobby_Jindal/WtyR9q6o">Bobby Jindal</a>, (B.A. 1991) – 55th <a href="/facts/Governor_of_Louisiana/KkSMdot4">Governor of Louisiana</a>, and former member of the <a href="/facts/U.S._House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">U.S. House of Representatives</a>; forfeited his place in the medical school to pursue studies in health policy at Oxford University through the <a href="/facts/Rhodes_Scholarship/aVf26dt3">Rhodes Scholarship</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Chirinjeev_Kathuria/cn0L0NK1">Chirinjeev Kathuria</a> (1988, M.D. 1993) – investor and entrepreneur, co-founder of <a href="/facts/Ocean_Biomedical/CzWCUrCk">Ocean Biomedical</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Srihari_S._Naidu/rhwVdRGC">Srihari S. Naidu</a>, (Sc.B. 1993, M.D. 1997) – Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Center at <a href="/facts/Westchester_Medical_Center/0LDlnXRb">Westchester Medical Center</a>; Professor of Medicine, <a href="/facts/New_York_Medical_College/71SfgXfw">New York Medical College</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Erica_Schwartz/Rocddeme">Erica Schwartz</a> (B.Sc. 1994, M.D. 1998) – former Deputy Surgeon General of the United States<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"How Many BS/MD Programs Are There? - BS/MD Admissions by College Admissions Partners". 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2016-07-24. <a href="http://www.collegeadmissionspartners.com/bsmd-programs/many-bsmd-programs/" target="_blank">http://www.collegeadmissionspartners.com/bsmd-programs/many-bsmd-programs/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"Top 23 Combined BS/MD Programs in 2023". CollegeVine Blog. 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2023-03-29. <a href="https://blog.collegevine.com/best-bs-md-programs/" target="_blank">https://blog.collegevine.com/best-bs-md-programs/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">"2019 Ivy League Admissions Statistics | Ivy Coach". Retrieved 2016-07-24. <a href="https://www.ivycoach.com/2019-ivy-league-admissions-statistics/" target="_blank">https://www.ivycoach.com/2019-ivy-league-admissions-statistics/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Obsessed, Prestige (2011-08-13). "Prestige Obsessed: Brown University Alpert Medical School". Prestige Obsessed. Retrieved 2016-07-24. <a href="http://prestigeobsessed.blogspot.com/2010/08/brown-university-alpert-medical-school.html" target="_blank">http://prestigeobsessed.blogspot.com/2010/08/brown-university-alpert-medical-school.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">"Three Tiers of BS/MD Programs Based on Level of Competitiveness - BS/MD Admissions by College Admissions Partners". 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2016-08-09. <a href="http://www.collegeadmissionspartners.com/bsmd-programs/three-tiers-bsmd-programs/" target="_blank">http://www.collegeadmissionspartners.com/bsmd-programs/three-tiers-bsmd-programs/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">"Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Medical education". www.brown.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-21. <a href="https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0250" target="_blank">https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0250</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">"Program in Liberal Medical Education" (PDF). www.brown.edu. Brown University. <a href="https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/sites/brown.edu.academics.medical.plme/files/uploads/PLME_brochure_2015.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/sites/brown.edu.academics.medical.plme/files/uploads/PLME_brochure_2015.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Ip, Julianne (July 2015). "Overview of Brown's Unique 8-year Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME)" (PDF). Rhode Island Medical Journal. 98 (7): 14–15. PMID 26125471. <a href="https://www.rimed.org/rimedicaljournal/2015/07/2015-07.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.rimed.org/rimedicaljournal/2015/07/2015-07.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Johnson, Todd A. (2013). BS/MD Programs- The Complete Guide: Getting into Medical School from High School. Minnetonka, MN: College Admissions Partners. pp. 73, 243. ISBN 978-0-9832132-4-6. <a href="978-0-9832132-4-6" target="_blank">978-0-9832132-4-6</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"Brown admits record-low 5% of applicants to class of 2026". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2023-03-29. <a href="https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026" target="_blank">https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">"About". Program in Liberal Medical Education | Medical School | Brown University. Retrieved 2023-03-29. <a href="https://plme.med.brown.edu/about" target="_blank">https://plme.med.brown.edu/about</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">"Health Warrior". www.brownalumnimagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-06-09. <a href="https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2020-04-09/health-warrior" target="_blank">https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2020-04-09/health-warrior</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Program in Liberal Medical Education open-in-new

Program in Liberal Medical Education