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! 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 Biology with lab 1 year! Bio 1A/1AL & Bio1B. 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. Suggested Pre-Med/Pre-Health Course Plan Year Fall Semester Spring Semester First Math 1A, 10A, or 16A Math 1B, 10B, or 16B Chem 1A/1AL Chem 3A/ 3AL Second Bio 1B Chem 3B/3BL Third Fourth 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. Foreign Language - Knowledge of a modern foreign language is helpful. (Calculus is a prerequisite to physics at Cal)
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! And Math 16B, 10B, or 1B! And Statistics 2, 20, 131A, or Public Health 142 Chemistry 2 years. Most students take:! General: Chem 1A/1AL! Organic: Chem 3A/3AL & Chem 3B/3BL! Biochemisty: MCB 102, C100A, or Chem 135 Biology with Lab 1 year! Bio 1A/1AL & Bio 1B Microbiology:! Public Health 162A or MCB C116 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 Dental Math 1 year of Calculus! And Math 16B, 10B, or 1B Some dental schools require Statistics 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! Bio1A /1AL & Bio 1B Microbiology (recommended):! Public Health 162A/162AL or MCB C116 English 1 year of writing-intensive classes 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! 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 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. 1 of 2 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 2 of 2 5/26/10WednesdayMay26 10:38 AM
MCB & IB Major Prerequisite Courses Course Units AP Scores that satisfy Prerequisites Alternatives Recommendations/Requirements Math 10A 4 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 10B 4 Math 10A Chem 1A/1AL Chem 3A/AL Chem 3B/BL Biology 1A/AL 3/1 3/2 3/2 Score of 4 or 5 on AP Chem exam (MCB only)*. 3/2 Score of 4 or 5 on AP Bio 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. Chem 3BL: C- or higher in Chem 3AL. Required: C- or higher in Chem 1A/1AL Recommended: Chem 3A/3AL or Chem 112A Biology 1B 4 Usually taken before Bio 1A/AL. Physics 8A 4 Math 10A, or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Physics 8B 4 Physics 8A or equivalent. Biological Chemistry students (MCB track 2) must take Chemistry 1B and Chemistry 112A/112B instead of Chem 3A and Chem 3B. Chem 1A/1AL & Math 10A are a good 1st semester combination. 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. *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 Math: 2 of the following* Math 32 4 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. Math 1A 4 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 1B 4 Math 1A Math 10A 4 Same as Math 1A Math 10B 4 Math 10A Math 16A 3 Same as Math 1A Math 16B 3 Math 16A Biological Science: Bio 1B Biology 1B 4 Usually taken before Bio 1A/AL. 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 C- or higher in Chem 3A or Chem 112A. Chem 3B recommended. MCB 11 3 No prereqs, but students will receive no credit after taking Bio 1A or 11, or Chem 3A-3B, 10, 112A, 112B, or 112H. MCB 32 3 One year H.S. or college chemistry. MCB 41 3 MCB 50 3 H.S. chemistry, or Chem 1A and H.S. biology or Bio 1A. MCB 55 3 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. MCB 61 3 Nutri Sci 10 3 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* Recommendations/ Requirements A grade of B- or higher is required to declare Public Health. If you take Bio 1A, Bio 1AL, and Chem 3B together (NOT RECOMMENDED), take Chem 3BL another semester. Primarily for students not specializing in biology. 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.