The Program in Liberal Medical Education, or PLME, is an eight-year combined baccalaureate-M.D. medical program offered by

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Members of the program are simultaneously accepted into both the undergraduate College of Brown University as well as the

Warren Alpert Medical School The Warren Alpert Medical School (formerly known as Brown Medical School, previously known as Brown University School of Medicine) is the medical school of Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally established in 1811, it ...

, allowing them to receive a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and an

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

as part of a single eight-year continuum. The PLME is the only combined medical program in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, as well as one of only approximately 120 in the nation. The program is highly selective, admitting fewer than 90 applicants nationwide and internationally each year, with an acceptance rate of 2.19% for the class of 2026. The PLME is widely considered to be one of the most competitive and prestigious combined medical programs in the country.

History

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. 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

AMCAS The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is a service run by the Association of American Medical Colleges through which prospective medical students can apply to various medical schools in the United States. It thus acts as somethin ...

admission route in 2004. According to the university, the goal of the program is to combine the Open Curriculum 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

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, and

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

through a

liberal education A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free () human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment. It has been d ...

philosophy as they prepare for their careers as physicians. 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."

Admissions

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. 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%. The average SAT scores of matriculants between 2019 and 2022 were 748 in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 779 in Math.

Notable alumni

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. *

Atul Butte Atul Janardhan Butte (August 26, 1969 – June 13, 2025) was an American biomedical informatician, pediatrician, and biotechnology entrepreneur. He was the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor at the University of Californi ...

, (B.A. 1991, M.D. 1995) – Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor,

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

; biotechnology entrepreneur *

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, Jindal previously served as a U.S. representative from Louisiana from 2005 t ...

, (B.A. 1991) – 55th

Governor of Louisiana The governor of Louisiana (; ) is the chief executive of the U.S. state government of Louisiana. The governor also serves as the commander in chief of the Louisiana National Guard. Republican Jeff Landry has held the office since January 8, ...

, and former member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

; forfeited his place in the medical school to pursue studies in health policy at Oxford University through the

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

Chirinjeev Kathuria Chirinjeev Kathuria is an Indian-American investor, physician, politician, businessperson, and philanthropist. He was the first Indian-American to run for the US Senate. Kathuria was the co-founder and co-chairman of UpHealth Inc. which went pub ...

(1988, M.D. 1993) – investor and entrepreneur, co-founder of Ocean Biomedical * Srihari S. Naidu, (Sc.B. 1993, M.D. 1997) – Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Center at

Westchester Medical Center Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC), formerly Grasslands Hospital, is an 895-bed Regional Trauma Center providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for h ...

; Professor of Medicine,

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a Private university, private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the ...

* Erica Schwartz (B.Sc. 1994, M.D. 1998) – former Deputy Surgeon General of the United States File:Bobby Jindal August 2015.jpg,

('91), 55th

, and former member of the

File:GM7 Key Question 3, Atul Butte, 34m54s.jpg,

('91, MD '95), Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor,

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

File:Rear Admiral Erica Schwartz.jpg, Erica Schwartz ('94, MD '98), Deputy Surgeon General of United States

References

{{reflist Brown University Medical education in the United States 1984 establishments in the United States