Pre-Med Pre-Requisite Courses
While there is no specific major required to apply to medical school, specific course work is required. In general, you should not
plan to use AP credit to fulfill pre-requisite coursework for health related professional schools. Many will not accept it.
**Check with the schools to which you will apply for their specific requirements**
Medical
Math — 1 year of Calculus
! Math 16A, 10A, or 1A,
! And Math 16B, 10B, or 1B
Only a few medical schools require Statistics.
Chemistry — 2 years. Most students take:
! General: Chem 1A/1AL
! Organic: Chem 3A/3AL & Chem 3B/3BL
! Biochemisty: MCB 102 or 100
Suggested Pre-Med/Pre-Health Course Plan
Year
Fall Semester
Spring Semester
First
Math 1A, 10A, or 16A
Chem 1A/1AL
Math 1B, 10B, or 16B
Chem 3A/ 3AL
Second Bio 1B
Chem 3B/3BL
Biology with lab — 1 year
! Bio 1A/1AL & Bio1B.
Third
Physics — 1 year
! Physics 8A/8B or 7A/7B
Fourth
English — 1 year of writing-intensive
classes
Social Science Electives—Some schools
specify a certain number of units in the
humanities & social sciences. A BA from L&S
should meet these requirements.
Foreign Language - Knowledge of a
modern foreign language is helpful.
(Calculus is a prerequisite to physics at Cal)
Bio 1A/1AL
Physics 8A
MCB 102, MCB C100C, or Chem 135 Consider Statistics
Physics 8B
Consider Psychology or Sociology
Additional science courses
All students are different and may take different tracks. Meet with an Adviser to create an
appropriate plan for you.
Pre-Health Pre-Requisite Courses
While there is no specific major required to apply to these professional schools, specific course work is required. In general, you
should not plan to use AP credit to fulfill pre-requisite coursework for health related professional schools. Many will not accept it.
**Check with the schools to which you will apply for their specific requirements**
Pharmacy
Math— Calculus and Statistics
! Math 16A, 10A, or 1A,
! And Math 16B, 10B, or 1B
! And Statistics 2, 20, 131A, or Public Health
142
Dental
Math — 1 year of Calculus
! Math 16A, 10A, or 1A,
! And Math 16B, 10B, or 1B
Some dental schools require Statistics
Chemistry —2 years. Most students take:
! General: Chem 1A/1AL
! Organic: Chem 3A/3AL & Chem 3B/3BL
! Biochemisty: MCB 102, C100A, or Chem 135
Chemistry — 2 years. Most students take:
! General: Chem 1A/1AL & Chem 1B
! Organic: Chem 3A/3AL & Chem 3B/3BL
! Biochemisty (recommended): MCB 102,
c100A, or Chem 135
Biology with Lab — 1 year
! Bio 1A/1AL & Bio 1B
Biology with lab — 1 year
! Bio1A /1AL & Bio 1B
Microbiology:
! Public Health 162A or MCB C116
Microbiology (recommended):
! Public Health 162A/162AL or MCB C116
Physics — 1 year
! Physics 8A/8B or 7A/7B
Physics — 1 year
! Physics 8A/8B or 7A/7B
English — 1 year of writing-intensive classes
English — 1 year of writing-intensive classes
Electives in Humanities, Social & Behavioral
Science including:
! Speech/Public Speaking: College Writing 10A
! Economics: Econ 1 or 100A
! General Psychology: Psych 1 or 2
Note: Dental schools seek well-rounded people
who have demonstrated their ability to use
their intellect. Interested in history? Write a
thesis. Like poetry? Start a journal for student
work. Interested in engineering research?
Work in a material science lab.
Optometry
Math — Calculus and Statistics
! Math 16A, 10A, or 1A,
! And Statistics 2, 20, 131A, or Public Health 142
Chemistry — 2 years. Most students take:
! General: Chem 1A/1AL & Chem 1B
! Organic: Chem 3A/3AL
! Biochemistry: MCB 102, c100A, or Chem 135
Biology with Lab
! Bio 1A/1AL & Bio 1B
Microbiology:
! Public Health 162A or MCB C116
Physics — 1 year
! Physics 8A/8B or 7A/7B
English — 1 year of writing-intensive classes
Other courses:
! Physiology
! Anatomy
! Immunology
! General Psychology
! Additional social science electives
Note: The UC Berkeley School of Optometry has
historically met with prospective students to
discuss preparing for optometry school.
(Calculus is a prerequisite to physics at Cal)
Well-Rounded Docs | Print Article | Newsweek.com
http://www.newsweek.com/id/40747/output/print
PRINT THIS
Well-Rounded Docs
That’s the goal as medical schools seek out and admit more nonscience students. English majors
welcome.
By Sarah Kliff | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Sep 10, 2007
One week into his premed classes at Washington University in St. Louis, Ryan Jacobson was rethinking his
plan to become a doctor. His biology and chemistry classes were large, competitive and impersonal—not how
he wanted to spend the next four years. “Sitting in a chemistry class, I knew it wasn’t the right place for me,”
he says. Jacobson found the history department, with its focus on faculty interaction and discussion, a better
fit. But he had no intention of leaving his medical aspirations behind. So Jacobson majored in history while
also taking the science and math courses required for medical school. When he graduated last spring, he won
the departmental prize for undergraduate thesis for his work on the history of race relations in Tulsa, Okla.
He started medical school at the University of Illinois last month. “Historians are supposed to integrate
information with the big picture,” he says, “which will hopefully be useful as a physician.”
Even as breakthroughs in science and advances in technology make the practice of medicine increasingly
complex, medical educators are looking beyond biology and chemistry majors in the search for more
well-rounded students who can be molded into caring and analytic doctors. “More humanities students have
been applying in recent years, and medical schools like them,” says Gwen Garrison, vice president for
medical-school services and studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges. “The schools are
looking for a kind of compassion and potential doctoring ability. This makes many social-science and
humanities students particularly well qualified.”
The number of science majors applying to medical
school has been steady for the past decade—about 65
percent of applicants major in biology or another
physical science. What’s changing is who gets in.
When Gail Morrison, who runs admissions at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, sorts
through the school’s 6,500 yearly applicants, she is not
looking for students who spent their undergrad years
hunched over biology and physics textbooks. “It
doesn’t make you a better doctor to know how fast a
mass falls from a tree,” she says. Approximately 40
percent of the students that Penn accepts to its
medical school now come from nonscience
backgrounds. That number has been rising steadily
over the past 20 years. “They’ve got to be happy and
have a life outside of medicine,” says Morrison, “otherwise they’ll get overwhelmed. We need whole people.”
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5/26/10WednesdayMay26 10:38 AM
Well-Rounded Docs | Print Article | Newsweek.com
http://www.newsweek.com/id/40747/output/print
In 1999, a national survey of first-year medical students found that 58 percent took a social-science class for
personal interest. In last year’s entering class, the number was more than 70 percent. Humanities students
also fare better on the MCAT, the standardized test for medical-school admissions. Among the 2006
applicants to medical school, humanities majors outscored biology majors in all categories.
Michael Sciola, who’s been advising premed students at Wesleyan University for the past 13 years, has seen
liberal-arts majors become more attractive to medical schools. And he’s not surprised that those who stray
from science are finding success. “Medical schools have really been looking for that scholar-physician in the
past few years,” he says. “We’re living in an increasingly complex world, and the liberal arts give you the skills
to understand that better.”
The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York has a program designed to attract nonscience majors. Each
year, Mount Sinai accepts about 30 college sophomores from around the country through its humanities and
medicine program. The students do not have to take the MCAT, but they are required to pursue a humanities
major as undergrads before starting at Mount Sinai. “The students who come in with a humanities
background see patients more as a whole patient,” says Miki Rifkin, the program’s director. She says that
these students often outperform their peers, with higher rates of competitive residency placements.
Andrea Schwartz, a third-year medical student in the Mount Sinai program, attended Columbia University
and the Jewish Theological Seminary and has a dual degree in history and Bible studies. “Having such a
varied experience has given me the opportunity to appreciate different angles,” says Schwartz, who is
interested in geriatrics. “The intense text study I did as an undergrad helps me when I’m taking patients’
histories. It taught me to be a better listener.” That sort of training may be just what the doctor ordered.
Find this article at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/40747
© 2007
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5/26/10WednesdayMay26 10:38 AM
MCB & IB Major Prerequisite Courses
Course
Units
Math 10A
4
Math 10B
4
Chem
1A/1AL
3/1
Chem
3A/AL
3/2
Chem
3B/BL
AP Scores
that satisfy
Prerequisites
Alternatives
Recommendations/Requirements
3 1/2 years of H.S. math,
including trig & analytic
geometry, plus a satisfactory
grade in one of the following:
CEEB MAT test, Math AP test, the
UC/CSU math diagnostic test, or
Math 32 (Precalculus).
Math 10A
Score of 4 or
5 on AP
Chem exam
(MCB
only)*.
H.S. Chemistry. No credit
after taking Chem 4A.
C- or higher in Chem 1A or an
AP Chem score of 4 or 5.
Chem 3B: C- or higher in Chem
3A or Chem 112A.
3/2
Chem 3BL: C- or higher in
Chem 3AL.
Required: C- or higher in Chem
1A/1AL
Recommended: Chem 3A/3AL
or Chem 112A
Biology
1A/AL
3/2
Biology 1B
4
Physics 8A
4
Math 10A, or equivalent, or
consent of instructor.
Physics 8B
4
Physics 8A or equivalent.
Score of 4 or
5 on AP Bio
exam (MCB
only)*.
Usually taken before Bio 1A/AL.
Biological Chemistry
students (MCB track
2) must take
Chemistry 1B and
Chemistry
112A/112B instead
of Chem 3A and
Chem 3B.
Enroll in Chem P (Fall only) - review of H.S.
chemistry/preview of Chem 1A. Recommended
before Chem 1A if Chem was last taken in
sophomore/junior yr of H.S. Offered by the
Student Learning Center. 3 hrs/wk. No units or
grade.
Chem 3AL may be taken concurrently or after
earning at least a C- in Chem 3A.
3BL may be taken concurrently or after earning at
least a C- in Chem 3B. If you take Chem 3B, Bio
1A, and Bio 1AL together (NOT RECOMMENDED),
take Chem 3BL another semester.
Bio 1A strongly recommended regardless of AP
score (4/5). Lab must be taken concurrently.
Bio 1B is taken before Bio 1A and recommended
regardless of AP score. Lab is part of enrollment
in the lecture.
H.S. Physics, or some intro exposure to
concepts, problems & calculations is strongly
recommended.
Chem 1A/1AL & Math 10A are a good 1st semester combination.
*Most medical, dental, pharmacy, and graduate schools require these courses regardless of AP scores*
NLM 03/15
Public Health Major Prerequisite Courses
Course
Units
Prerequisites
Recommendations/
Requirements
Math: 2 of the following*
3 years of H.S. math, plus a satisfactory grade on one of the following: CEEB MAT
test, Math SAT, or the UC/CSU math diagnostic test.
3 1/2 years of H.S. math, including trig and analytic geometry, plus a satisfactory
grade on one of the following: CEEB MAT test, Math AP test, the UC/CSU math
diagnostic test, or Math 32 (Precalculus).
Math 1A
Math 32
4
Math 1A
4
Math 1B
4
Math 10A
4
Same as Math 1A
Math 10B
4
Math 10A
Math 16A
3
Math 16B
3
Same as Math 1A
Math 16A
Biological Science: Bio 1B
Biology 1B
4
Usually taken before Bio 1A/AL.
A grade of B- or higher is
required to declare Public
Health.
and either Bio 1A/1AL, or 2 of the following: MCB 11, 32, 41, 50, 55, or 61, or Nutri Sci 10
Biology
1A/1AL
STRONGLY
PREFERRED
3/2
MCB 11
3
MCB 32
3
MCB 41
3
MCB 50
3
MCB 55
3
MCB 61
3
Nutri Sci 10
3
C- or higher in Chem 3A or Chem 112A. Chem 3B recommended.
If you take Bio 1A, Bio 1AL, and
Chem 3B together (NOT
RECOMMENDED), take Chem
3BL another semester.
No prereqs, but students will receive no credit after taking Bio 1A or 11, or Chem
3A-3B, 10, 112A, 112B, or 112H.
One year H.S. or college chemistry.
Primarily for students not
specializing in biology.
H.S. chemistry, or Chem 1A and H.S. biology or Bio 1A.
No prereqs, but students will receive no credit after taking MCB 100, C100A, 100B,
103, C103, 150, Chem C130, PMB C103, or Public Health C102.
No prereqs, but students will receive no credit after taking NS 103 or 160.
Social Science: 3 courses from at least two of the following departments*
Anthropology 3 or 3AC
• Economics 1, 2, or 3 • Political Science 2 or 4 • Psychology 1 or 2 • Sociology 1, 3, 3AC, or 5
* May be able to use AP coursework for major requirement. See the Public Health Undergraduate Major adviser for details. Medical, dental,
pharmacy, and graduate schools may require these courses regardless of AP scores.