Majoring & Minoring: Premedical, Predental and Preveterinary Medicine

Students who are interested in one of the medical professions should be aware that no specific major is required by any of the professional programs. At Southwestern University, there are no designated premedical, predental, or preveterinary medical majors.

All of the medical professional schools have specific educational requirements that students must complete to prepare them for professional studies. Professional schools will not consider students for admission unless all of the course requirements are met. These required courses must be taken at an accredited university in the United States or Canada. The courses should be taken for a grade (not P/F).

There are some differences in the course requirements for medical, dental, and veterinary medical schools, and students need to be aware of those differences. A concise statement of educational requirements for Texas medical schools is provided at the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) web site. The policy regarding credit for Advanced Placement Courses is described at the TMDSAS web site also.

Southwestern University regularly offers most or all of the courses required by the professional schools in Texas. Exceptions are two courses required by Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine: Animal Nutrition and Technical Writing. Options for completing these courses as an undergraduate are given on the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine's web site.

Courses offered at Southwestern University that fulfill professional educational requirements are listed below. Other information about requirements for admission to professional schools (other specific course requirements, Admissions Tests, work experience, deadlines for applications, etc.) are on linked pages.

CHEMISTRY
General Chemistry (CHE51-151, 153, 161, 163 or CHE51-171.173 and 211, 213)
Organic Chemistry (CHE51-551, 553, 561, 563)
Biochemistry (CHE51-571, 573 or BIO50-571, 573)
One semester of Biochemistry is required only at UT Dental Branch at Houston and UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. It is a recommended course at other schools and can be used to fulfill an upper-level Biology requirement. Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine requires 5 semester hours of Biochemistry lecture, and thus two semesters of Biochemistry should be taken to fulfill the requirement for veterinary medical school.

BIOLOGY
General Biology (BIO50-102, 112, 122, 162)
Upper-level Biology (enough to total at least 14 credit hours)
Note: Microbiology (with lab) and Genetics are required upper-level courses for Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine.

PHYSICS
General Physics (PHY53-154, 164)

MATHEMATICS
Calculus or Statistics (MAT52-154 or 113)
Note: The Calculus/Statistics requirement does not apply to dental schools.

ENGLISH
College Writing (UST05-113) or equivalent, and one other course with English prefix (totaling at least six semester hours)

A typical course schedule for a first-year pre-professional student would be similar to what is outlined below. It is important for a student to work closely with his/her academic advisor to make sure Southwestern University degree requirements and required courses for professional schools are completed in a timely way.

Fall Semester
UST05-012 First Year Seminar
UST05-113 College Writing (if assigned)
CHE51-153,151 Chemical Concepts and Properties I
BIO50-102 Cell Biology
BIO50-112 Biodiversity
MAT52-154 (or 113) Calculus I or Statistics (if College Writing in Spring)
3 credit hours Distribution Requirement if receiving AP credit for UST05-113

Spring Semester
UST05-113 College Writing (if assigned)
CHE51-163,161 Chemical Concepts and Properties II
BIO50-162 Genes and Molecules
BIO50-122 Genetics and Evolution
MAT52-154 (or 113) Calculus I or Statistics (if College Writing in Fall)
3 credit hours Distribution Requirement if receiving AP credit for UST05-113

Standardized Examinations for Professional Programs
All medical schools in Texas require applicants to submit their score(s) on the Medical College Admissions Text (MCAT) as part of their formal application. This exam is now computerized, and several exam dates are available to students throughout the year. Information about the MCAT exam can be found at the web site for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). 

Dental schools require that students take the Dental Admissions Test (DAT) and submit their scores to all schools to which they apply. Information regarding the DAT and about careers in dentistry can be found on the American Dental Association (ADA) web site.

Students who apply to veterinary medical school must report their scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The Educational Testing Service administers this exam, and the ETS web site has lots of information regarding the GRE.

Additional Information
Medical School application
MCAT preparation

Timing
Most students apply to professional schools following their junior (3rd) year of college. Deadlines for applications differ, but students usually prepare themselves and take the standardized exams required for their applications before the summer between their junior and senior years.

Premedical Advisory Committee
The role of the Premedical Advisory Committee is to help students understand how to prepare themselves for careers in the health professions. The names of members of the committee is given below:

Dr. Kerry Bruns, Chair (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Dr. Steve Alexander (Physics)
Dr. John Chapman (Mathematics and Computer Science)
Dr. Frank Guziec (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Dr. Rebecca Sheller (Biology, Department Chair)
Mr. Dave Seiler (Office of Academic Services).

CONTACT:
Dr. Kerry Bruns
Department of Chemistry
Southwestern University
P.O. Box 770
Georgetown, TX 78627
brunsk@southwestern.edu

 

Texas Schools of Medicine
UT Galveston
UT Southwestern
UT Houston
UT San Antonio
UNT Health Science Center
Texas Tech Health Science Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center

Texas Schools of Nursing
TCU
UT Galveston
Texas Tech
Prairie View A&M

Physician's Assistant Programs
Baylor
UTMB Galveston
UNT Fort Worth
UT Southwestern Medical Center
American Association of Physician's Assistants

Schools of Physical Therapy
Texas State
Texas Tech
Texas Womens
UT San Antonio
UT Galveston
UT Southwestern
American Physical Therapy Association
Angelo State
UT El Paso
Hardin Simmons

Other
UT San Antonio Dental School
Texas A&M Veterinanry School

Top Ten US Medical Schools (US News & World Report rankings 2008)
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Washington University
University of Pennsylvania
University of California San Francisco
Duke University
University of Washington
Stanford University
UCLA
Yale University