Future pre-med students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test will have to study a little extra due to proposed changes to the test.

Changes to the MCAT's content and length will be implemented in 2015, according to the preliminary recommendations released by the Association of American Medical Colleges last month. Despite the upcoming variations, University officials say the alterations won’t have a significant impact on the University's traditional pre-med or Medical School curriculum.

Jeff Koetje, director of academics for pre-health programs for Kaplan Test Prep, said this is the fifth time the MCAT has been reviewed by an advisory committee since its inception about 70 years ago.

“This current review of the MCAT is a very fundamental review of everything from science, to the structure, to the different sections of the test,” Koetje said.

The new test will include more advanced scientific questions and will evaluate knowledge of behavioral and social sciences. Officials have also eliminated the current writing sample section and will add 90 minutes to the length of time to take the exam, which is currently 5.5 hours.

The behavioral and social science section of the new MCAT will reflect the material taught in undergraduate psychology and sociology courses. Koetje said the additional high-level science that will be tested on the exam reflect material students will encounter during medical school.

“They’re going to be increasingly focusing on biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, as well as statistics because these are sciences that medical schools themselves are saying are increasingly important for pre-medical students to have exposure to before they come to medical school,” Koetje said.

However, Steven Gay, assistant dean for admissions at the Medical School and an assistant professor of internal medicine, wrote in an e-mail interview that the University’s curriculum isn’t undergoing substantial changes because of the proposed MCAT modifications.

“We believe that the improved MCAT process should help us continue to evaluate and admit the best applicants in the country to the University of Michigan," Gay wrote. "Our curriculum is always under constant review, but one preliminary component of admission should not dramatically affect how we design our curriculum."

Similarly, David Brawn, a pre-health adviser at the Newnan Academic Advising Center, wrote in an e-mail interview that the additional advanced science to be included in the MCAT shouldn’t make a considerable difference for pre-med undergraduates at the University.

“It is already commonplace for students here at U-M to fit in some upper level science coursework prior to the MCAT,” Brawn wrote. “Biochemistry, physiology and genetics are probably the most common, but that’s by no means an exhaustive list.”

However, Brawn said because of the changes to the MCAT, he thinks some students may take more time to prepare for their medical school applications.

“The typical three-year schedule may continue to work for some students, but it won’t work for all of them, and it does not have to,” Brawn said.

According to Koetje, the changes aren’t intended to make things more difficult for pre-med students, but are instead intended to reflect the science-focused reality of today’s medical field.

“The state of medicine is a far more sophisticated science now than it ever has been,” Koetje said.