Prerequisite Models

This option describes what courses need to be taken, but not the path to achieve the end point. Undergraduate institutions work with their students to help decide acceptable pathways to these end-point courses that may include (but are not limited to) traditional course requirements, condensed courses, novel curriculums, AP credit, and online course work.  A number of strongly recommended, but not required, courses are included in this option.

Any applicant selecting this option must document the required end-point courses that have been taken/planned as well as the list of pathway courses taken/planned that led to that end-point.  Applicants will also indicate which courses in the recommended areas have been taken and which ones are planned.

The following courses are required:

1. Biological sciences: 1 semester of upper-level Biology; see option A for examples    
2. Biochemistry: 1 semester
3. Introductory Physics: 2nd semester

A grade of C (2.0 on 4-point scale) or higher must be achieved in order to meet prerequisite standards.

Additional coursework in traditional liberal arts divisions (science, humanities, and social sciences) outside Biology, Chemistry, and Physics is strongly recommended by the Committee on Admissions. Examples include coursework in (but not limited to):

• Anthropology
• Art
• Classics
• Computer Science
• Economics
• English
• Foreign Language
• Math
• Music
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Religious Studies
• Sociology
• Theater

Applicants eligible for this admissions criteria option are limited to those enrolled at institutions with departments that have constructed course-competency maps which have been submitted to the College of Human Medicine and approved by the Committee on Admissions.

The current model for this option is derived from premedical competencies described in the 2010 Howard Hughes Medical Institute -Association of American Medical Colleges report, Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians.  To qualify for admission, an applicant must complete any combination of courses whose combined content has been mapped by its faculty to cover the 37 learning objectives from this report, which emphasize the following eight entry-level medical student competencies (See pages 22-35 for a description of all 37 prematriculation learning objectives).

• E1-Apply quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.
• E2-Demonstrate understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, and explain how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated.
• E3-Demonstrate knowledge of basic physical principles and their applications to the understanding of living systems.
• E4-Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles of chemistry and some of their applications to the understanding of living systems.
• E5-Demonstrate knowledge of how biomolecules contribute to the structure and function of cells.
• E6-Apply understanding of principles of how molecular and cell assemblies, organs, and organisms develop structure and carry out function.
• E7-Explain how organisms sense and control their internal environment and how they respond to external change.
• E8-Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on earth.

A grade of C (2.0 on 4-point scale) must be achieved in all courses being used to demonstrate competencies in order to meet prerequisite standards.

Applicants eligible for this admissions criteria option are limited to those enrolled at institutions that have devised novel premedical curricula that have been submitted to the College of Human Medicine and approved by the Committee on Admissions.

For institutions interested in developing novel curriculum for its students, it is strongly advised that the basis of this curriculum be grounded in the liberal arts divisions of science, social science, and humanities.  The institution should provide commentary that explains how this novel curriculum integrates learning objectives which they believe provide competencies for entry-level medical students.

A grade of C (2.0 on 4-point scale) must be achieved in the novel curriculum coursework in order to meet prerequisite standards. If you have any questions or concerns or need additional information about premedical course requirements, please email the Office of Admissions.