Pre-Health Prerequisite Courses at CSULB
Health Professions Advising Office (HPAO) • Jensen Student Access to Science (SAS) and Mathematics Center
Location: Hall of Science Building – Room 164 • Phone: (562) 985-8061 • Website: www.csulb.edu/hpao
The form below lists the prerequisites for the common required courses for different health professions and graduate
programs. We recommend that you check out our career planning handouts to see the specific requirements for individual
programs (or use this form hand-in-hand with the career planning handout most applicable to you). We also strongly
recommend that you check with the individual schools that you are applying to as to what their course requirements are
(this form is only a guide, it is the student’s responsibility to check with the individual schools they intend to apply to).
The Health Profession prerequisites can range from about 40-60 units. If you are a non-CNSM student, we encourage you
to work with your major advisor to see if these courses will fit with your major, and within timely graduation. If they
cannot, please see the HPAO office for different options.
You can also take these courses through a community college. However, we recommend checking with the individual schools
that you are thinking of applying to, as each school has unique policies on community college courses. Please use
www.assist.org to determine which courses to take.
Chemistry Courses:
Course Title
CSULB
Course #
Prerequisites
Notes
A passing score on the CPT;
Corequisite: MATH 109 or higher
CHEM 111A and MATH 113 or 115 or
119A or 122
CHEM 111B. This course must be taken
concurrently with CHEM 223A
General Chemistry I (5)
CHEM 111A
General Chemistry II (5)
CHEM 111B
Organic Chemistry I (3)
CHEM 220A
Organic Chemistry II (3)
CHEM 220B
CHEM 220A. This course must be
taken concurrently with CHEM 223B
Organic Chemistry Laboratory I (1)
CHEM 223A
Corequisite: CHEM 220A
Organic Chemistry Laboratory II (1)
CHEM 223B
Biological Chemistry (3)
CHEM 441A
CHEM 220A and CHEM 223A
Corequisite: CHEM 220B
CHEM 320L or both CHEM 220B and
CHEM 223B
Or take CHEM 448 (3)
Biology Courses:
Introduction to Evolution and
Diversity (4)
Introduction to Cell and Molecular
Biology (4)
Introduction to Ecology and
Physiology (4)
BIOL 211
Pre/Corequisite: CHEM 111A
BIOL 212
BIOL 211 and CHEM 111A;
Pre/Corequisite: CHEM 111B
BIOL 213
BIOL 211, 212 and CHEM 111B
Not all schools will require the
third BIOL course, but some
content may be on the MCAT
or needed as a pre-req. to the
upper division courses.
Check with the schools that
you plan to attend as to what
their specific requirement is
Human Physiology (4)
BIOL 207
GE Foundation requirements
Human Anatomy (4)
BIOL 208
GE Foundation requirements
California State University, Long Beach Health Professions Advising Office
Updated July 2014
Math and Physics Courses: (most schools require calculus – either sequence will work. Check the schools specific math
requirement for their required courses – not all schools require math). Either Physics sequence will work.
Course Title
CSULB
Course #
Biostatistics (3)
BIOL 260
Pre-Calculus Algebra (3)
MATH 113
Survey of Calculus I (3)
MATH 119A
Prerequisites
BIOL 211 or BIOL 207 or MICR 200;
MATH 111 or MATH 113 or MATH
119A or MATH 122
Appropriate ELM score, ELM
exemption, or MAPB 11
MDPT placement or MATH 113
Survey of Calculus II (3) OR
MATH 119B
MATH 119A or 122
Calculus I (4)
Calculus II (4)
MATH 122
MATH 123
MDPT placement or MATH 111 & 113
MATH 122
General Physics (4)
PHYS 100A
MATH 109 or 113 or 119A or 122
General Physics (4) OR
Mechanics and Heat (4)
Electricity and Magnetism (4)
PHYS 100B
PHYS 151
PHYS 152
PHYS 100A
Pre/Corequisite: MATH 122
PHYS 151; Pre/Corequisite: MATH 123
Molecular Cell Biology (3)
BIOL 340
BIOL 211, 212
Human Mammalian Physiology (3)
BIOL 342
(Lab is 342L)
BIOL 211, 212, 213. The lab, 342L is a
pre/ corequisite
General Genetics (4)
BIOL 370
BIOL 211, 212, and either BIOL 260 or
CHEM 251
Notes
Many schools require any
stats, other options include:
STATS 108 or HDEV 250.
Required at UCLA and UCI
Required for some Physician
Assistant Programs
Not all schools will require
two semesters of calculus.
Check with the schools you
are applying to
See message above for 119B
Choose either the 100A/B
sequence or the 151/152
Choose either sequence
Upper Division Courses:
Required at UC Irvine
Many schools require
Physiology: choose either 342
or 208 (check with the school)
Other Courses commonly Required or Recommended (depending on the program):
One year of English (Composition
and Literature preferred) (3)
ENGL 100
Students who score 147 or above on the
English Placement Test
Introduction to Sociology (3)
SOC 100
Any GE Foundation course
Typically one additional
ENGL course from the Engl
Dept such as: 102, 180, 300
On the MCAT 2015
Introduction to Psychology (3)
PSY 100
GE A1 requirement
On the MCAT 2015
Microbiology (5)
MICR 211
BIOL 211, BIOL 212; CHEM 111B
Public Speaking (3)
COMM 130
No prerequisites
Macroeconomics (3)
ECON 100
MATH 103 or higher
Fundamentals of Spanish (4)
SPAN 101B
SPAN 100 or SPAN 101B or 3 years of
high-school Spanish. Foundation course
Medical Terminology (1)
HSC 150
No prerequisites
Immunology (3)
BIOL 430
BIOL 340
California State University, Long Beach Health Professions Advising Office
Or MICR 200 (4) - depending
on the school
Required at Pharmacy schools
Or ECON 101 (3) For
Pharmacy (check which
course the school prefers)
One or Two semesters of
SPAN highly recommended at
certain programs, check with
the school (or other language)
Common for some PA and PT
Required at Berkeley School
of Optometry
Updated July 2014