Pre-Med Course Requirements

Find common pre-medical course requirements for those entering Allopathic (M.D.) and Osteopathic (D.O.) Medicine.

Course Requirements Overview

This is a guide to common pre-medical course requirements.

Professional schools have a variety of prerequisites required for admission to their programs. On this page, we include information about timelines for pre-medical requirements and the options available.

  • It is recommended that all science pre-requisite courses are taken in person (not online). Many programs prefer in person coursework, and some programs may not allow online coursework. See individual schools for COVID exceptions.
  • Individual schools may require or recommend additional courses.
  • All prerequisites must be completed with a letter grade of C or higher.
  • Schools vary on Credit-by-Exam (AP/IB/CLEP) policies and preferences for prerequisites. Please see "Can I Claim AP/IB Credit?"

Quick Tip

To be competitive for medical school, you will need average overall and science GPAs of at least 3.6 to 3.8 and above, depending on the schools you plan on applying to. This means you need to be making As and Bs with more As than Bs.  If you are behind in your classes, don’t wait until you get your first poor test score to ask for help.  See the academic assistance section.

 

School requirements can change. See individual school websites and admissions guides under “Research Medical Schools Before You Apply.” We always recommend checking for any updates.

Most Texas medical schools require:

  • Biology:  Lecture – 12 hrs;  Lab – 2 hrs 
  • General Chemistry:  Lecture – 6 hrs;  Lab – 2 hrs
  • Organic Chemistry:  Lecture – 6 hrs;  Lab – 2 hrs
  • Biochemistry:  Lecture – 3 hrs
  • General Physics:  Lecture – 6 hrs;  Lab – 2 hrs
  • Math:  Statistics – 3 hrs
  • English:  Rhetoric (Composition) and Literature – 6 hrs

(Medical School Prerequisite Course Timelines and a Pre-Med Science Courses Flowchart are available at the bottom of this page.)

Some medical schools require humanities and social/behavioral science courses. The MCAT has a Psychology/Sociology section.  We strongly recommend taking courses in the following areas. 

  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Ethics
  • Analytical problem-solving
  • Critical thinking
  • Writing, interpersonal communications and presentation skills
  • Cultural studies
  • Spanish and other language studies relevant to your career goals
     

UT Austin Courses Typically Taken to Fulfill Requirements

Science Requirements

Subject Lecture Lab
Biology    

 
  • BIO 311C + BIO 311D + BIO 325 + BIO/INB/MBS Elective 3 hrs OR
  • [BIO 315H + BIO 325H] (honors) + BIO/INB/MBS Elective 3 hrs + BIO/INB/MBS Elective 3 hrs

 

 

 

For upper-division biology electives, choose from Anatomy, Physiology, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Parasitology, Ecology.

 

  • BIO 206L OR
  • 2 hrs of upper-division BIO/INB/MBS lab

 

 

Must be formal lab course work. Research lab credit, such as INB/MBS 377, does not fulfill this requirement.

 

 

 

 

***Note - BCH 369L (for Biochemistry majors) or BCH 219L (for Biochemistry majors) - contact your med program(s) of choice to see if this lab will fulfill the 2hr BIO lab requirement.***

General Chemistry
  • CH 301 + CH 302 OR
  • CH 301H + CH 302H (honors) OR
  • CH 301C + CH 302C (for Chemistry majors)
  • CH 204 OR
  • CH 104M + CH 104N
Organic Chemistry
  • CH 320M + CH 320N OR
  • CH 328M + CH 328N (for Chemistry majors)
  • CH 220C OR
  • CH 128K + CH 128L (for Chemistry majors) 

Biochemistry
 

 

 

 

Some medical schools allow double-counting Biochemistry toward 3hrs of the Biology or Chemistry requirements. Some do not. See school websites. 

 

 

HPO recommendation: Do not double-count BCH.

 

 

  • BCH 369 OR
  • BCH 339F (for Biochemistry majors)
 

General Physics

 

 

If you take courses that do not thoroughly cover all the potential MCAT topics, be sure to cover those in your MCAT prep. 

 

Yes, the MCAT does include Physics 2 topics.

UT Austin offers 4 accepted lecture/lab sequences. Medical schools have no preference.

  • PHY 302K PHY 302L  OR
  • PHY 317K + PHY 317L  OR
  • PHY 303K PHY 303L  (for Engineering majors)  OR
  • PHY 301 + PHY 316  (for some Science and Engineering majors)

Starting FALL 2021, PHY 105M/N will replace lab numbers PHY 102M/N, PHY 103M/N, and 117M/N.

  • If PHY 317K + PHY 317L
    • PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR
    • PHY 117M + PHY 117N
  • If PHY 302K + PHY 302L
    • PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR
    • PHY 102M + PHY 102N
  • If PHY 303K + PHY 303L
    • PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR
    • PHY 103M + PHY 103N (for Engineering majors)
  • If PHY 301 + PHY 316
    • PHY 101L + 116L (for some Science and Engineering majors)

Other Subjects

Subject Courses
Math

 
  • Statistics: (usually fulfills math requirement at Texas schools)

    See TMDSAS acceptable statistics courses.

  • Calculus:  is required by some out-of-state medical schools.
  • M 408N OR
  • M 408K OR
  • M 408 C

    HPO does not list M 408R as a pre-med course.  You can seek approval from individual schools that require calculus, but approval cannot be guaranteed. 
Rhetoric (Composition):

Choose 2 courses from the following, Rhetoric and Literature. 

Some schools require 1 course from each area.

  • RHE 306 OR
  • RHE 309K OR
  • Any Writing Flag course in RHE Dept.
Literature
  • E 316L OR
  • E 316M OR
  • E 316N OR  
  • E 316P OR
  • Any Literature course in English Dept.
     

Remedial, developmental and "English As a Second Language" courses are not accepted.

Strong reading and writing skills are essential to success on MCAT and in medical school.

Psychology & Sociology 

Choose 1 from each area. 

 Psychology

  • PSY 301 OR
  • Any behavioral PSY course
  • Choose from developmental, abnormal, health-related and social psychology. 
     

Sociology 

  • SOC 302 OR
  • Any relevant SOC course
  • Choose from cultural and health-related sociology. 

Specific School Requirements  

Some schools have additional prerequisite requirements. Find them below.

Baylor Med Pre-Reqs
TCU Med Pre-Reqs
  • Texas Christian University & UNTHSC School of Medicine Prerequisite Courses
     
TMDSAS

 


Medical School Prerequisite Course Timelines 

These timelines include pre-medical course requirements for admission to most Texas and U. S. medical schools. 

Completing the pre-medical courses and extra-curricular activities generally requires six semesters or longer, regardless of the student’s age or year in college.

Your personal timeline may differ from these samples.

Work with your academic advisor to incorporate these courses into your degree plan.

 

Important Note: 

Timelines do not include all course options and details. See above: Pre-Med Course Requirements and Specific Requirements: Baylor, TCU, & TMDSAS.

To be sure that you are fulfilling all requirements, see individual school websites.  Find school links under "Research Medical Schools Before You Apply."

 

Additional Course Information