Competition to become a doctor has always been fierce. In 2008, 42,231 medical school applicants submitted 558,000 applications for 18,000 spots in the 128 accredited US medical schools. If this were a game of musical chairs, 24,231 would be left standing. That’s a lot of disappointed people.  Should you be graduating from high school next year, and you have a passion to become a doctor, you might try to sidestep the graduate Medical School admission process altogether by applying to a combined Baccalaureate Medical program.