Pre-Medical
The College of Medicine of the University of Nebraska Medical Center requires a minimum
of 90 semester hours for admission. However, to provide an opportunity for in-depth study,
the completion of a college major or undergraduate degree is expected***.
Medical schools do not specify which major a student should pursue in conjunction with
his/her pre-medical studies. Chemistry and biology majors are commonly chosen but other
science majors, psychobiology, psychology, business or the humanities are acceptable as
long as the core science courses in chemistry, biology and physics are included.
Competition for positions in medical schools means admission is never guaranteed.
Admission to medical school is based on scholastic record, MCAT scores, personal
recommendations and an interview with members of the admissions committee.
The following requirements are based on the admission requirements of the College of
Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Students wanting to apply to other
medical schools should check with those specific schools for additional requirements.
- A. Requirements
Take 8 hours of biology from:
- BIOL 103GS, General Biology - 4 hours
- BIOL 107GS, Biology II - 4 hours (Prereq:
three years of high school science including biology and chemistry and a minimum score of
20 on the ACT or equivalent or a college science course)
- No more than ONE from the following options:
- 1 course
BIOL 215GS, Human Physiology - 4 hours (Prereq:
three years of high school science including biology and chemistry and a minimum score of
20 on the ACT or equivalent or a college science course)
OR 2 courses
BIOL 225, Anatomy and Physiology - 4 hours (CHEM
145 or CHEM 150 or CHEM 160; three years of high school science including biology and a
minimum score of 20 on the ACT or equivalent or a college science course)
BIOL 226, Anatomy and Physiology - 4 hours
(Prereq: three years of high school science including biology and chemistry and a minimum
score of 20 on the ACT or equivalent or a college science course)
- BIOL 211, Human Microbiology - 4 hours
(Students should not take BIOL 211 if they are planning to take
BIOL 400, see
Strongly
Recommended, below)
- Take all of the following:
- BIOL 360, Genetics - 3 hours
- CHEM 160GS, General Chemistry - 3 hours
(see prerequisites)
- CHEM 160LGS, General Chemistry Laboratory - 1
hour
- CHEM 161GS, General Chemistry - 3 hours
- CHEM 161LGS, General Chemistry Laboratory - 1
hour
- CHEM 360, Organic Chemistry - 4 hours
- CHEM 360L, Organic Chemistry Laboratory - 1
hour
- CHEM 351, Biochemistry - 4 hours (Prereq:
CHEM 161GS,
CHEM
161LGS; CHEM 250, or
CHEM 361GS and
CHEM
361LGS)
- CHEM 361, Organic Chemistry - 4 hours
- CHEM 361L, Organic Chemistry Laboratory - 1
hour
- ENG 101GS, Expository Writing I - 3 hours (Prereq:
ENG 100A or English ACT score of 15 or above)
- ENG 102GS, Expository Writing II - 3 hours
(Prereq: ENG 101GS* or
ACT English score of 30 or above)
- PHYS 205GS, General Physics - 5 hours
- PHYS 206GS, General Physics - 5 hours
- Take 1 course from:
- MATH 115, Calculus I with Analytic Geometry -
5 hours (Prereq: MATH 102,
MATH 103)
- MATH 123, Applied Calculus I - 3 hours (Prereq:
MATH 102)
- STAT 241, Elementary Statistics - 3 hours
(Prereq: MATH 101)
B. Electives
- Humanities and Social Sciences** - 12-16 hours **Recommended courses in the humanities
and social sciences include English literature courses, foreign language, psychology,
philosophy, political science, economics, sociology and fine arts courses.
Strongly recommended:
- FSID 110GS, Introduction to Nutrition - 3 hours
- PSY 230GS, Human Development - 3 hours
- PSY 231, Abnormal Behavior - 3 hours
- PE 460, Gross Anatomy of Movement - 3 hours
(Prereq: PE 360; or
BIOL 225 and
BIOL
226)
- BIOL 309, Cellular Biology - 4 hours (Prereq: 8
hours of college Biology; CHEM 161GS,
CHEM 161LGS;
CHEM
250; or CHEM 360,
CHEM 360L,
CHEM
361 and CHEM 361L)
- BIOL 400, Microbiology - 4 hours (Prereq: at
least 8 hours of Biology)
- BIOL 401, Principles of
Immunology 4 hours (Prereq: at least 8 hours of Biology)
- BIOL 403, Plant Physiology - 3 hours (Prereq:
BIOL 104GS, one year of Chemistry)
- BIOL 440,
Infectious Diseases - 4 hours (Prereq:
BIOL 211 or
BIOL
400; BIOL 450 and
BIOL 401)
- BIOL 450, Molecular Biology I - 4 hours
(Prereq: BIOL 309,
BIOL 360 and
CHEM
351)
- BIOL 451, Molecular Biology II - 4 hours
(Prereq: BIOL 450,
CHEM 375)
- BIOL 465, Physiology - 3 hours (Prereq:
BIOL 107GS,
BIOL
309, CHEM 161GS,
CHEM 161LGS and organic chemistry)
*** Students pursuing a pre-medical curriculum are expected to choose a major so
that they can be working towards a baccalaureate degree concurrently with the pre-medical
program. This requires a major/minor combination or a comprehensive major as well as
completion of the UNK general studies requirements and other degree requirements as set
forth in the college catalog. (Students who are accepted into medical school prior to
completing a baccalaureate degree at UNK may be eligible to receive a
BS degree in Health Science if they have completed all
General Studies requirements and have at least 90 semester
hours completed in pre-med studies.)