Premedical Requirements

Bachelor's Degree

Applicants to the School of Medicine must have earned a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. While the degree may be earned in any discipline, the applicant is expected to take courses that demonstrate the intellectual discipline and aptitude necessary to succeed in medical school.

Minimal course requirements include:

Biology and chemistry prerequisites must be didactic and laboratory courses required of science majors and equivalent to one academic year.

Modern physics courses must be didactic and laboratory courses based on mathematics of at least college-level algebra and trigonometry and equivalent to one academic year.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to diversify their undergraduate education. While not required for admission to the School of Medicine, a number of courses and subject areas are recommended to medical school-bound students.

Suggested courses and disciplines include:

• Biochemistry (strongly encouraged)
• Genetics (strongly encouraged)
• Other upper-level biology
• Natural sciences
• Social sciences
• Humanities
• Oral and written communications
• Social determinants of health (examples include cultural or social anthropology, public or population health, epidemiology, environmental health, health economics, health policy, history of medicine or public health, ethics related to health care)

Health care experience:

Applicants also are expected to possess a general understanding of health care and medicine based upon employment, shadowing or volunteer experiences. Although we do not require specific hours, we do encourage you to invest the time you need to acquire knowledge of the roles of members of the health care team, as well as an understanding of the meaning of working with patients and serving them as a physician.