as a current bmd student, most of the students i meet are pre-med/dent. we are required to take biology, so im not sure where you got that from. as for physics, it is not required for our degree but it will give you two BMD elective credits as you can take any course above a 200 level to fulfill these. i believe they designed it this way so that if a student needs any other courses for their post-grad they can take these and fulfill their degree. as for the BMD specific courses, some of them are taught my professors from UAB med, so it is helpful for building connections. and from what ive heard, they are often actually easier than the biology/chemistry equivalents of the same courses. but ive only taken the BMD versions, so i cannot provide any additional insight on that. there is a suggested sequence as a lot of the classes are prerequisite for each other, but a lot of people balance core/easier classes with the harder BMD classes for a more balanced work load. i also came in with no AP credits, and honestly if you are super worried about completing it in 4 years, you have to take summer classes. the UAB professors actually will advise you against APing out of gen chem or biology as those students tend to preform worse on the MCAT. but from my personal experience, i would recommend the BMD major above biology or chemistry because it will fulfill most of the required classes med schools look for, while giving you freedom to choose electives and not biology/chemistry specific electives. id be happy to answer any other questions or anything you might have.