The UMW Premedical Program Course Requirements
Along with your MCAT scores, completing the premedical course requirements and earning very good grades are the most important requirements for medical school. Medical schools judge your general academic ability by the undergraduate courses you select and the grades you earn. Medical schools look at three basic course / grade related items:
- Your overall GPA. The average overall undergraduate GPA of first year medical students is approximately 3.5. This means you need to be more than an above average student, you need to excel in the classroom. Don’t be too concerned about a mediocre grade now and then. But clearly, mediocre grades cannot dominate your transcript.
- Your science and math GPA, particularly in the required premed courses. Again, the average overall undergraduate science and math GPA of first year medical students is approximately 3.5. This means you excel in the sciences, you must have a reasonable aptitude for biology, chemistry, physics and math. Again, don’t be too concerned about a mediocre science grade now and then. But clearly, mediocre science grades cannot dominate your transcript.
- Your course selection. Medical schools like to see that you have chosen to take challenging undergraduate courses and relatively respectable course loads. While you do not need an overly burdensome first year course schedule, and you can afford to take a not-so challenging course load now and then, your overall undergraduate transcript, when reviewed in its entirety, should show a student who does not shy away from academic challenges. It should show an individual who enthusiastically embraces academic challenges while at the same time excelling in the classroom. Show that you can handle the vast amount of very challenging material covered in medical school.
Required Courses
The following courses are required by most medical schools. You should be able to successfully incorporate these courses into your overall UMW curriculum within the framework of any UMW major program. These courses may not be taken Pass/Fail, Credit/No Credit, or through a long-distance or on-line learning program.
- General Biology (2 semesters with lab): Biology 121 & Biol 132 – or – Biology 125 & 126.
- General Chemistry (2 semesters with lab): Chemistry 111 & 112.
- Organic Chemistry (2 semesters with lab): Chemistry 211 & 212.
- College Physics (2 semesters with lab): Physics 101 & 102 (Gen. Physics I, II) – or – Physics 105 & 106.
- Biochemistry (3 credits): Chemistry 317 (Biochem I)
- Biochem 318 (Biochem II) is NOT required nor recommended.
- Biochem lab (319 & 320) are NOT required nor recommended.
- English composition / writing: two semesters (6 credits)o ENGL 202, 306 and 307 are suggested English composition courses. Many medical schools will accept writing intensive courses as fulfilling the English composition requirement
- Mathematics: two semesters (6 credits).
- Introductory Statistics is explicitly required by many medical schools. STAT 180, BIOL 260 and PSYC 261 fulfill this statistics requirement.
- Most other college-level math courses will satisfy the second required math course. Math 111(Precalculus), and Math 121 (Calculus I) are suggested. Note: Calculus is NOT a requirement for medical school, nor is it covered in the MCAT.
- Note: Many / most schools of osteopathic medicine do not require math courses.
These courses may not be taken Pass/Fail, Credit/No Credit, or through a long-distance learning program.
Highly Recommended Courses
The following courses are highly recommended by most medical schools.
- Psychology (a minimum of 3 credits).
- PSYC 100 (General Psychology) is highly recommended.
- Additional pertinent psychology courses include PSYC 301 (Social Psychology), PSYC 311 (Abnormal Psychology), PSYC 339 (Health Psychology), PSYC 331/332 (Devlopomental Psychology).
- Sociology (a minimum of 3 credits).
- SOCG 105 (The Social World) and/or SOCG 155 (Social Issues) are highly recommended
- Additional pertinent sociology courses include SOCG 331 (The Family), SOCG 334 (Medical Sociology), SOCG 335 (Global Perspectives on Health and Illness)
The following upper level Biology courses are also highly recommended by most medical schools (as
many as you can fit into your schedule):
- Cell Biology (BIOL 340)
- Genetics (BIOL 341)
- Human Anatomy (BIOL 384)
- Human Physiology (BIOL 413)
- Microbiology (BIOL 371)
- Histology (BIOL 406)
- Developmental Biology (BIOL 439)
- Immunology (BIOL 441)
- Neurobiology (BIOL 410)
AP Credits and Community College Credits
Most medical schools prefer students to complete all required pre-med courses at a four-year undergraduate institution. Medical schools will accept Community College credits in fulfillment of these courses. Medical schools generally accept AP credit to meet premedical course requirements, if documented on an official transcript. Lab credit, however, will still be required. Some schools will accept the lab sections of advanced science courses to meet these lab requirements. If you have questions regarding the acceptance of Community College or AP credits by a specific medical school, you should check the school’s web site.