Medical, dental and veterinary schools welcome all good students, not just science majors. Thus, the student planning to study medicine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine may choose for his or her major field any one of the humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences. However, health professions schools expect every serious applicant to be well grounded in the basic sciences and to be familiar, through practical experience, with laboratory techniques. For these reasons most medical, dental, or veterinary schools require one year of:
- General Chemistry with lab
- Organic Chemistry with lab
- Biology with lab
- Physics with lab
- English
In addition, one year of Mathematics is usually strongly recommended. A few medical schools require one year of Calculus. Some schools have additional courses required, such as biochemistry; check specific requirements for each school via their web sites. Veterinary medical schools generally have many additional requirements, and you should therefore conduct careful research before you design your schedule of courses.
If you are an undergraduate and plan to enter a medical/dental/veterinary school the fall after you graduate, you should attempt to complete the required science/math courses by the end of your junior year. Most students take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) or Dental Admission Test (DAT) in the spring of their junior year. The basic science courses are covered in these exams. If you do not do as well as you had hoped, you will have a chance to retake the exam in August or September -- at the beginning of your senior year. Course areas also useful in helping prepare for the entrance exams, although not required, are biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and physiology. We should note that the MCAT includes two graded essays. This is an indication that medical schools are increasingly interested in students who can communicate clearly and who also have some sophistication in areas such as medical ethics, and the economics, politics, and culture of health care.
Also, if you plan to enter medical/dental school the fall after you graduate, you would ideally file your application during the summer after you complete your junior year. If you are a competitive candidate, you would then be invited for interviews during the fall or early winter of your senior year. If accepted, you would begin graduate school in August/September after your graduation from B.C.
We should note that increasing numbers of students at B.C. (and other institutions) feel that they would like to complete the Premedical/Predental Program over four, instead of three, years. This allows more flexibility during one's undergraduate career and that extra year also allows individuals to raise their cumulative averages, thus increasing chances for acceptance. This is an especially good option if you have had a modest performance during your freshman year. Nevertheless, this would postpone your graduate studies by one year. The majority of students entering medical school do not enroll directly after graduating from college.
For a complete listing of the required premed/predent/prevet courses, course numbers, and potential course sequences, please visit the on-line version of the undergraduate catalog.