Pre-Med/Pre-Health Program | AS

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Pre-Health Prerequisite Courses

Different programs require different skill sets, and pre-requisite courses are designed to help you develop the skills you’ll need.  Each program is a little different from the others, and there are even some schools within the same profession that want you to have different backgrounds.  Math is the best example – some medical schools require no math courses (although most applicants likely have a math background to take their science courses), and some may require two semesters of calculus, or some calc and some statistics.  So, there’s no easy way to know exactly what courses to take, but the following is a basic guideline for a few of the programs.

Some health professions schools require additional courses. For course requirements at a particular medical school, consult Medical School Admission Requirements. This book is available in the Health Professions Resource Library located in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and can be purchased through the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). See the resources page for links to individual schools to check their requirements, or make an appointment with Dean Fukawa-Connelly to go over your program of interest and its pre-requisite coursework.

A note about Mathematics courses
Many health professions schools require a year of Mathematics, including one or two semesters of Calculus.  To be sure that you will be eligible for admission to the greatest number of health profession schools possible, we recommend that you take at least one year of college-level mathematics with at least one semester of calculus.  Harvard, and Washington University are among the few allopathic medical schools that currently require two semesters of Calculus.

A note about English courses
For students in the class of 2004 and subsequent classes, the English requirement can be fulfilled by taking USEM/UWS or USEM+W, along with the requisite writing intensive course(s).  These course sequences will suffice for many health profession schools.  However, students who choose the USEM+W option should strongly consider taking at least one English course while at Brandeis.