IAABP (I am a biology professor).
IMHO O-chem as it is taught by most chemistry departments is completely useless for pre-med students. There ought to be a lower level biochemistry course in its stead as a pre-req for pre-meds. Most MDs will NEVER have to worry about organic synthesis and crap like that; they WILL need to worry about metabolic pathways and enzymatic reactions.
Bingo.
I have never used half the crap I took in undergrad. There are two reasons why they include most prereqs.
1)hoops to jump through.
2)most people in 'pre-med' (which doesn't exist in most Canadian universities now) don't get into medicine, so they still need basic science to have some relevant skills in another field.
And as to the article that talks about science leading to research. Many don't like research. To castigate the clinician as mediocre because they don't do research is grotesquely unfair.
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny ..." -- Isaac Asimov