Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education stands out for allowing high school students to apply to the Warren Alpert Medical School for a combined undergraduate and medical school program, but that drastically impacts the composition of Brown’s medical school.
Around one-third of Warren Alpert students were admitted in high school through the PLME, according to a Herald analysis. But only around 2% of the medical school’s body are non-PLME Brown students.
Around 150 students matriculate into Warren Alpert annually. The PLME program has a competitive acceptance, usually around 2.4%, which works out to around 50 first-years per class. There were 144 matriculants to the MD class of 2028 from 53 different colleges and universities, according to Warren Alpert’s admissions office.
Jake Glueck MD’26, who matriculated to Warren Alpert through the PLME, described going to medical school as a smooth transition, as he was already “somewhat familiar” with a good portion of the class. It was easy to “stick with the people he already knew,” he said.
Glueck said he “felt there wasn’t as much intermingling between PLME and non-PLME students as there could have been.”
Maria Guerrero ’21 MD’26, a non-PLME third-year student, said there were only four non-PLME Brown undergraduate students in her class including herself. But Guerrero did not feel “any differences with the PLME students,” she said. “Everybody is just trying to get through it.”
Some students at Warren Alpert take “non-traditional” routes into medical school. Justin Wyda MD’26 attended Washington University in St. Louis for undergrad then worked as a teacher before entering medical school.
“I was pretty committed to trying out being a teacher,” Wyda said. “But I was also thinking in the back of my head that I really like science and medicine, which motivated me towards medicine.”
While such a large portion of the medical class are PLME students, Wyda believes Brown balances it well by “taking a lot of non-traditional students.”
“There are more ‘hardcore medicine’ students who knew they were going to be a doctor since 12 years old, and then there are people with different perspectives from various careers, priorities and interests,” Wyda said.
But some students think there’s a lack of representation from non-PLME Brown students at Warren Alpert. Kyoko Saito ’24, a pre-medical student applying this admissions cycle, says she does not know any non-PLME Brown students attending Warren Alpert.
Warren Alpert admissions denied The Herald’s request for the number of non-PLME Brown student applicants and matriculants by year.
Despite the numbers, students described finding an inclusive community at Warren Alpert.
Wyda said that, while the school focuses on training good physicians, it also emphasizes “finding balance and making sure you’re as healthy as possible.” He said that while there was some competition among students, the environment was “not cut throat” and rather was “very collaborative.”
Guerrero said one of her biggest concerns was going to a medical school with an overly competitive environment. Warren Alpert, she said, has been “very social, with everyone supporting each other’s achievements.”
Claire Song is a Senior Staff Writer covering science & research. She is a sophomore from California studying Applied Math-Biology. She likes to drink boba in her free time.
