Joe Slovak interviews at several medical schools, and returns to work alongside his fisherman father. Sometime later, his mother, younger brother, Frankie, and Aunt Rose race to the dock when a letter from a university arrives, and Joe announces that he has been accepted to a medical school. He moves into his dorm room, and meets his roommate and fellow med student, David Schreiner. Joe causes a scene when he arrives late to orientation, and attracts the attention of classmate, Laurie Rorbach. Dr. Rachel Woodruff warns the students to leave immediately if they are not prepared to dissect human cadavers on a daily basis. The students attend their Gross Anatomy class, where they receive their lab group and cadaver assignments from professor Dr. Jeffrey Banumbra. Joe is teamed with his roommate David, Laurie Rorbach, Kim McCauley, and Miles Reed. When Joe makes a joke with their cadaver, Dr. Woodruff chastises him. After class, the group goes to dinner together, where Miles shares his annoyance with Joe over his classroom antics. Joe drives Laurie home, and she denies his request to be invited in. Over time, the students immerse themselves in their studies. When Joe ignores class rules and prepares to dissect a part of the cadaver they have not yet been assigned, Dr. Woodruff reprimands him, and challenges him to answer a complex medical question, with his answer determining the grade for his whole group. Miles Reed asks to be reassigned to another group. However, the next day, Joe answers the question correctly, and impresses his lab mates. Sometime later, Joe gets a work-study job at the University hospital, and is quickly noticed by Dr. Banks. Joe asks Laurie out, but she again rejects him. He forgoes his solo study sessions and shows up for his friends’ study group. When they go to a motel in the country to hold an intense study session, the others are called away, and Joe and Laurie find themselves alone. Laurie shares how important medical school is to her, and worries that Joe will become a distraction. However, she kisses him, and they make love. During the Gross Anatomy final, David Schreiner motions to Joe for an answer, and Dr. Woodruff sees Joe show his test to David. The students nervously await their results before Christmas break. When they are posted, Joe is instructed to see Dr. Woodruff. He denies sharing test answers with David, and although Joe scored “84%,” Dr. Woodruff is disappointed that he is content being “average.” Joe meets Laurie in a bar, where they dance together, and he asks to see her again. She declines, and Joe is surprised when Laurie’s “friend,” Jerry Fanning Forrester, arrives with cocktails in hand, and Laurie explains that Jerry is driving her home for Christmas break. Joe becomes angry, and dances with a girl named Luann, whom he takes back to him room. They roll around on the floor and kiss, as David studies nearby. When he becomes annoyed and leaves, Joe follows his friend to the hallway and apologizes. David is upset because he did poorly on his final, and Joe questions him about the amphetamines he found in their room. David tells him to mind his own business. In time, the students begin their second semester, and Laurie tells Joe that she broke up with Jerry, but needs time to focus on her studies. Joe is hurt, and distances himself from her. As their classes become more difficult, David and Joe both fail an exam. Joe takes Dr. Woodruff up on her offer to complete an extra-credit research project, diagnosing a patient’s case. He surmises that the patient has Lupus, and that the prognosis is grim. Meanwhile, David’s drug use increases, and he collapses in class. When David is expelled from school, Joe chastises Dean Torrence for his harsh punishment, and threatens to quit himself. Dr. Woodruff pleads with Joe to reconsider, but he leaves school and returns home, where his parents wait patiently for an explanation. When two-weeks pass and Joe has not returned to class, Laurie visits him and begs him to come back. However, an argument ensues, and she accuses him of being a quitter. Joe insists he does not really care about becoming a doctor. He embraces Laurie, and thanks her for her concern. She promises to return after her final exams, and before leaving, tells him that Dr. Woodruff is in the hospital with kidney failure, and may have Lupus. Joe is stunned, and realizes that the case file Dr. Woodruff assigned him was her own. Soon after, Joe visits Dr. Woodruff at her home, and yells at her for hiding the truth. She tells him that she struggles trying to turn good students into good doctors, and insists that the world needs more “healers” than doctors. Dr. Woodruff reveals that the Dean has agreed to let Joe return to school, but he refuses. Joe demands to know what she expects of him, and Dr. Woodruff expresses her desire that he strive to be greater than he thinks possible. Afterward, Joe returns to class. Laurie, Miles Reed, and Kim McCauley welcome him back to their group, and they begin studying for their final exams. They return to the motel in the country for a weekend cram session, where the heavily pregnant Kim goes into labor. On the way to the hospital, her contractions intensify, and they are forced to stop at a roadside café, where Joe and Laurie deliver her baby girl. They return to class just in time for their Gross Anatomy final, and Joe asks Dr. Banumbra to give a letter to Dr. Woodruff for him, in which he shares his renewed enthusiasm for medicine after helping Kim deliver her baby. However, after the exam, Dr. Banumbra delivers the sad news that Dr. Woodruff has died. Before summer break, Joe asks to continue working at the hospital. Later, Laurie gives Joe his impressive final results, and flirts with him. However, Joe teases her, and bids her farewell for the summer. Moments later, he chases Laurie outside, and they share a passionate kiss.