Pre-Health Professions
Pre-health professions advisor: Dr. Flora Watson
Students planning to attend medical, dental, pharmacy, veterinary, optometry, chiropractic, physical therapy, physician assistant, clinical laboratory science, or podiatry schools are usually not required to complete a prescribed undergraduate major, although most do. In general, students major in biological sciences or chemistry if they are interested in a health profession. There are courses that are required to be completed before applying to the professional schools.
Course Requirements
The minimum requirement for admission to most health professional schools is completion of at least 90 semester units; however, a bachelor degree is recommended. In addition, requirements for a specific professional school may differ from one school to another. Therefore, it is highly recommended that students, while preparing for admissions, examine the requirements of their prospective professional schools and, with the assistance of their major advisor, design a program of study.
Experience
It is very important for students to have special health-related experience in addition to their course work. The experience should have direct patient contact or other interpersonal involvement. The professional schools want to know if the applicants have a first-hand knowledge of the realities of a career in a health profession. An undergraduate internship in an appropriate health profession setting is a recommended way to achieve this "real world" experience. In some situations, experience plays a significant role in the admission selection process. Academic credit may be received for such experiences. Research experience may be useful to some students, but it is not a major requirement in the admissions process to some of the health professions. Consult your major advisor and a member of the Pre-health Professions Committee.
Recommended General Education, Core Curriculum, and Additional Electives
General Education
Commonly required courses include:
Core Curriculum
All students who plan to attend a medically related professional school, regardless of major, should take the following core courses:
| Zool 1050 | Introduction to Zoology with laboratory |
| Boty 1050 | Introduction to Botany with laboratory |
| Chem 1100 | Principles of Chemistry I with laboratory |
| Chem 1110 | Principles of Chemistry II with laboratory |
| Chem 3010, 3012 | Organic Chemistry I with laboratory |
| Phys 2100 or 2250, 2252 | Basic Physics I or General Physics I with laboratory |
| Phys 2110 or 2260, 2262 | Basic Physics II or General Physics II with laboratory |
| Math 1600, and/or 1410 | Statistics and/or Calculus |
Additional Electives (to bring the total number of units to at least 90 semester units)
Most professional schools recommend the following courses. Some of these courses may have prerequisites. These courses will also help prepare for professional admissions tests.
| Biol 3350 | Introductory Genetics |
| Biol 4100 | Immunology |
| Bio 124 | Hematology (offered with concurrent enrollment from CSU Sacramento) |
| Chem 3020, 3022 | Organic Chemistry II with laboratory |
| Chem 4400 | Biochemistry I |
| Mbio 3010, 3032 | Bacteriology with laboratory |
| Mbio 4300 | Medical Microbiology |
| Zool 3130 | Vertebrate Embryology |
| Zool 3150 | Comparative Anatomy |
| Zool 4280 | Physiology of Human Systems with laboratory |
Professional Admission Tests
It is to the student's advantage to complete the core curriculum and additional electives before taking the professional admissions test, such as MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), DAT (Dental Admission Test), OAT (Optometry Admission Test), or GRE (Graduate Record Exam for Veterinary School Admission). Application forms, packets, and information are available through the Pre-health Professions Committee. In most professional schools, it is required that all the prerequisite courses be completed by June of the year of intended enrollment.
Pre-health Professions Committee
California State University Stanislaus has a Pre-health Professions Committee, which provides academic advising and assistance to students who are preparing and applying to health professional schools. Questions regarding pre-health profession preparation and application may be directed to the committee via the Department of Biological Sciences at (209) 667-3476.
Below are the recommended courses of study for several of the health professions.