University of Nebraska at Kearney
1998-2000 Undergraduate CATALOG
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, General Zoology - 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 (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 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:
- CHEM 160GS, General Chemistry - 3 hours
- 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 361, Organic Chemistry - 4 hours
- CHEM 361L, Organic Chemistry Laboratory - 1 hour
- ENG 101GS, Expository Writing I - 3 hours
- ENG 102GS, Expository Writing II - 3 hours
- PHYS 205GS, General Physics - 5 hours
- PHYS 206GS, General Physics - 5 hours
- Take 1 course from:
- MATH 115, Calculus I with Analytical Geometry - 5 hours (Prereq: MATH 102, MATH 103)
- MATH 123, Applied Calculus I - 3 hours (Prereq: MATH 102 or MATH 112)
- 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:
- FCSC 110GS, Introduction to Nutrition - 3 hours
- CHEM 351, Biochemistry - 4 hours (Prereq: CHEM 161GS, CHEM 161LGS, CHEM 250; or concurrently with CHEM 361GS, CHEM 361LGS)
- 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 161, CHEM 161L, and CHEM 250; or CHEM 360, CHEM 360L, CHEM 361 and CHEM 361L)
- BIOL 400, Microbiology - 5 hours (Prereq: at least 8 hours of Biology)
- BIOL 403, Plant Physiology - 3 hours (Prereq: BIOL 104GS, one year of Chemistry)
- BIOL 440, General Virology - 4 hours (Prereq: BIOL 211 or BIOL 400; BIOL 450 and BIOL 401)
- BIOL 450, Molecular Biology I - 4 hours (Prereq: BIOL 309, BIOL 460 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)
- No more than ONE from:
- BIOL 460, Genetics - 3 hours
- BIOL 461, Human Genetics - 3 hours (Prereq: one college Biology course)
*** 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.)