Pre-Dentistry

Pre-Professional Advising: Dentistry

Pre-Professional Advising Program Director and Advisor:· This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Parkinson Hall 224

Pre-Professional Advising Program Advisor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Parkinson Hall 110

 

Please refer to this curriculum guide every semester when you register for courses.

The following curriculum meets the application and admissions requirements for the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry as well as many other dental schools.  Please reference the websites of individual dental schools to which you wish to apply for further required courses. 

Most students accepted to dental school receive a B.S. degree in biology, but students majoring in other disciplines (e.g., psychology, sociology, business, etc.) are considered if they have completed the requirements of the dental school. 

All dental schools require students to take the Dental Admission Test (DAT), and students must take the DAT in the fall semester of their Senior year. 

Pre-dentistry students must demonstrate a strong desire to learn, exhibited by adding a minor to your major, being a member of the Honor's College, completing an independent research project, and/or pursuing and completing a double major. 

Prior to applying to dental school, pre-dentistry students must have shadowed a dentist four separate times, each with a different experience.

The applicant also must have completed four separate contacts/events with a single community service organization. 

Students applying to dental school are required to solicit letters of recommendation from a mix of people, including professors, the dentist they have shadowed, and the supervisor of the community service organization for which they volunteered.  In other words, a small number of meaningful experiences are better than a long list of one-time contacts. 

The following course sequence is a guideline meeting only the minimal requirements for admission to the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry.  Courses to fulfill the major must be worked into the student's schedule.  Please be aware that some courses are offered "only in the Fall" or "every other year."  It is the student's responsibility to work with their academic advisor to plan their individual multi-year curriculum to insure that all required courses are taken in time for them to take the DAT in the fall of the Senior year.

  

Year 1
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program

Fall	Spring
BSB 101 General Biology	BSB 102 General Biology
BSB 101L General Biology Lab	BSB 102L General Biology Lab
PSC 111 General Chemistry	PSC 112 General Chemistry
PSC 111L General Chemistry Lab	PSC 112L General Chemistry Lab
EN 101 English Composition I	EN 102 English Composition II
MA 113 College Algebra, or higher	MA 114 Trigonometry, or higher
*Elective (see footnote)	*Elective (see footnote)

 

Year 2
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program

Fall	Spring
PSC 211 Organic Chemistry	PSC 212 Organic Chemistry
PSC 211L Organic Chemistry Lab	PSC 212L Organic Chemistry Lab
PSP 211 or PSP 213 Physics	PSP 212 or PSP 214 Physics
PSP 211L or PSP 213L Physics Lab	PSP 212L or PSP 214L Physics Lab
BSB 230 General Genetics	BSB 332 Cellular & Molecular Biology
MA 123 Statistics	BSM 340 Microbiology for Majors
*Elective (see footnote)	*Elective (see footnote)

Summer (or anytime during Year 2)

Shadow a dentist (2 contacts, each with different experiences)
Volunteer with a community service organization (2 contacts)

 

Year 3
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program

Fall	Spring
BSB 303 Comparative Anatomy	BSB 322 Animal Physiology
BSM 459 Histology	BSM 467 Biochemisltry
*Electives (see footnote)	*Electives (see footnote)

Summer (or anytime during year 3)

Shadow the same dentist as previous summer (2 contacts, each with different experiences)
Volunteer with the same community service organization as previous summer)

 

Year 4
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program

Fall
Take DAT
Complete dental school application

 

*Electives  should include a mix of courses

• SOC 201 Principles of Sociology
• PSY 101 General Psychology
• BU 160 Spreadsheet Applications
• BU 201 Principles of Economics I (consider taking BU 202 Principles of Economics II as well)
• PHL 201 Introduction to Philosophy
• PHL 204 Ethics
• A variety of humanities courses (history, foreign language, literature, and fine arts)