4. How can I be sure that I’m taking the classes I’ll need for admission?

Health profession schools require that you complete certain courses to be considered for admission. We have compiled a group of U of A courses that will fulfill most, if not all, of these requirements. This group of courses is called the “pre-health curriculum.” You can find these courses listed on the pre-health professions advising web site or by clicking on the phrase above.

Students should also be looking at requirements for specific schools in which they are interested. Medical school requirements can be found at the American Association of Medical Colleges web site.

Admission requirements for dental schools are listed in the American Dental Education Association’s (ADEA) publication entitles, Official Guide to Dental Schools, available in our pre-health professions resource room as well as through the ADEA web site. Links to web sites for other health professions are found at our web site on the “links” page. These web sites will direct you to information about admission requirements for your particular career of interest as well as the schools to which you might apply.

Essentially, you need to complete one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics and one year of biology including labs for each of these classes. If you plan to major in one of the sciences, then completing this curriculum will ensure that you are prepared for the application process.

If, however, you decide that you are best suited for a non-science major, we offer a minor specifically tailored for students planning to apply to health professions schools. This minor is called the “pre-health thematic minor.” Our web site lists the requirements for this minor under the heading of "academics." Completion of this minor with any major will prepare you for the application process.

Please note that there is a strict policy prohibiting any courses in this minor from fulfilling a major requirement. In other words, if you plan to major in molecular and cellular biology, it would be virtually impossible to complete the pre-health thematic minor as well, since so many of the courses required for the minor are also required for the major.