Health Science Career Resources
Academic preparation for MEDICINE (Allopathic/Osteopathic)
REQUIRED PREREQUISITES (Refer to MSAR for specifc school pre-requisites)
| DEGREE AWARDED IN THIS FIELD: |
M.D. / D.O. | |||
| Biology*** | Biol 20A, Bioe 20B, Bioe 20C (With lab 1 year) |
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| Chemistry | 1A, 1B/1M, 1C/1N (With lab 1 year) |
Organic Chemistry 108A/L, 108B/L, 108C* or 112 A/L, 112 B/M, 112 C/N (With lab 1 year) |
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| Bio-Chemistry*** | BIOL 100 / 100K or BIOC 100A/B/C with 100K |
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| Math** | 11A, 11B, 22 or 19A, 19B, 22 |
Statistics: AMS 5 or AMS 7/L |
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| Physics | 6A/L, 6B/M, 6C/N (With lab 1 year) |
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| English | Composition and Rhetoric, Lit 1, Writing techniques, or Intermediate writing, tragedy, science writing | 1 year |
The courses listed above are generic preparation. Please note that some of these courses, especially the sciences, may have other prerequisites such as mathematics. (Refer to MSAR for specifc school pre-requisites)
SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL PREPARATION
BIOLOGY
All upper division Biology courses are appropriate and desirable
for medical school.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
GENERAL BUSINESS
COMPUTER LITERACY
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
PSYCHOLOGY
SPEECH COMMUNICATION
Courses that contribute to professional and cultural background.
* To satisfy all medical schools students may take an additional lab to fulfill the 1 year requirement.
** Some schools require calculus and statistics. Not all medical colleges require math.
***Specific California Medical School Requirements:
UCD (M.D)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college lower-divison biology courses, with lab. Two quarters or one semester of college upper-division biology, lab not required. The latter can be met by coursework in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology or genetics. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with lab. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with lab. (If two or more undergraduate courses are offered, the more rigorous option is recommended) |
| Physics | One year of college physics with lab. |
| English Composition | One year of college English. Courses in Comparative Literature and/or Classics will fulfill the English requirement |
| Recommended | Biochemistry is strongly recommended. |
- AP/CLEP credit is not acceptable for prerequisite courses. On-line, electronic, distance learning or correspondence courses will not be accepted.
USC (M.D)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college general biology with lab. Additionally, a course in basic molecular biology is required, which can be met by the following courses: Genetics or cell biology. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with lab. |
| Organic Chemistry | Two quarters or one semester of college organic chemistry with lab. |
| Biochemistry | One quarter or semester is required. |
| Physics | One year of college physics with lab. |
| English Composition | One year of college english composition. |
| Recommended | Calculus and facility in use of computers. |
- AP coursework will not fulfill required courses.
UCI (M.D)
| Biology | One and a half years (3 semesters or 5 quarters) of college biology with one year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) of lab. Courses must include one upper divison biology course. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with lab. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with lab. |
| Physics | One year of physics. |
| Mathematics | Calculus and statistics. |
| English composition | One quarter or one semester of english composition / writing. |
| Recommended | Cell biology, genetics, physical chemistry, vertebrate embryology, developmental and abnormal psychology, and Spanish. |
- Candidates for admission may submit community college credit only to the extent granted on transfer to a four-year college or university.
UCSF (M.D)
| Biology | One year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) of college biology with a lab component, including the study of vertebrate zoology. Courses in vertebrate embryology, genetics, cell physiology, or comparative vertebrate anatomy, with laboratory, will satisfy the biology requirement for admission. |
| General Chemistry | One year of general chemistry with lab. |
| Organic Chemistry | Two quarters of college organic chemistry. |
| Physics | One year of physics with lab. |
| Recommended | Mathematics courses, upper-division biological science courses, humanities courses, and English composition courses. |
- Advanced Placement credit will be accepted for the general chemistry and general physics requirements for admission if the credit is verified on your college transcript.
UCLA (M.D)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college biology with a lab component. Recommended courses to meet biology requirement include: Cell biology, genetics, embryology, histology, and anatomy. |
| General Chemistry | At least one course in general chemistry. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with a lab component, including |
| Mathematics | One year of college mathematics including at least one course in Calculus and statistics. |
| Physics | Three quarters or two semesters of physics with lab. |
| English Composition | One year of English Composition, Literture, or other courses emphasizing reading comprehension. Remedial english courses will not be considered in meeting this requirement. |
| Recommended | Biochemistry is highly recommended. |
UCSD (M.D)
| Biology | One year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) of college-level Biology (excluding botany & biochemistry). |
| General Chemistry | One year of college-level General Chemistry (biochemistry is acceptable). |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college-level Organic Chemistry. |
| Physics | One year of college-level Physics. |
| Mathematics | One year of college-level Math (only calculus, statistics, or computer science will be considered). |
- UCSD does not require any laboratory coursework.
- UCSD does not require English coursework, but competence in spoken and written English is required.
- AP credit with a score of 4 or 5 can be used to satisfy some of the requirements:
- The full year of Math.
- One semester of Physics (meaning you would need to complete ONE semester or TWO quarters to complete the requirements).
- One semester of General Chemistry (meaning you would need to complete ONE semester or TWO quarters to complete the requirements).
- AP credit can NOT be used to meet the Biology or Organic Chemistry requirements.
Stanford (M.D)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college biology with a lab component. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with a lab component. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with a lab component. |
| Physics | One year of college physics with lab. |
| Recommended | Knowledge of a modern foreign language, specifically Spanish or Asian languages, and course work in behavioral sciences, calculus, physical chemistry and, in particular, biochemistry, are recommended. |
Loma Linda (M.D)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college biology with a lab component. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with a lab component. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with a lab component. |
| Physics | One year of college physics with lab. |
| English Composition | One year of English Composition. |
| Recommended | Biochemistry is highly recommended. Introductory Statistics is recommended. |
Western University (D.O)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college biology with a lab component. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with a lab component. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with a lab component. |
| Physics | One year of college physics with lab. |
| English Composition | Two quarters or one semester of English Composition. |
| Behavioral Sciences | Two quarters of a behavioral science course. |
| Recommended | Microbiology, genetics, immunology, anatomy and physiology. A full year of biochemistry is strongly recommended. |
- CLEP and A/P credits are accepted as long as the course credits are specified on the transcript and are class specific.
Touro University - California (D.O)
| Biology | One year (3 quarters or 2 semesters) of college biology/zoology with a lab component. |
| General Chemistry | One year of college general chemistry with a lab component. |
| Organic Chemistry | One year of college organic chemistry with a lab component. One quarter of Biochemistry may be substituted for the third quarter of Organic Chemistry. |
| Physics | One year of college physics. |
| English Composition | Two courses in English Composition. |
| Behavioral Sciences | Two courses in behavioral sciences. |
| Math / Computers | One course in mathematics or computer sciences. |
- Touro University - California accepts advanced placement credit as long as such credit appears on the undergraduate transcript and indicates either specific subject credit (e.g. General Chemistry - 4 units) or specific course credit (e.g. Chem 101 - 4 units). General advanced placement credit without such specifications is not accepted.
For general information, check http://www.aamc.org/ (for allopathic) or http://www.aacom.org/ (for osteopathic) or Medical School Admissions Requirements. For specific requirements, check each school (catalog or web site).
REMEMBER: YOU WILL BE APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL APPROXIMATELY 12 TO 16 MONTHS BEFORE MATRICULATION. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
