Pre-Medical
Pre-Professional Advising: Medical
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 Medicine as well as many other medical schools. Please reference the websites of individual medical schools to which you wish to apply for further required courses.
Most students accepted to medical school receive a B.S. degree in biology or chemistry, but students majoring in other disciplines (e.g., psychology, sociology, business, etc.) are considered if they have completed the requirements of the medical school.
Application to medical school is made through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).
All medical schools require students to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), and students are strongly encouraged to take the MCAT in the late spring of, or immediately following, the Junior year, after completing courses in general biology, cell and molecular biology, general chemistry, physics, biochemistry, algebra (or higher), statistics, psychology and sociology.
These courses align with the four sections of the MCAT –
- Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Chemical & Physical Foundation of Biological Systems
- Psychological, Social, & Biological Foundations of Behavior
- Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills
Pre-medical students must demonstrate a strong desire to learn, exhibited by adding a minor to your major, being a member of the Honor's College, and/or pursuing and completing a double major.
Prior to applying to medical school, pre-med students must have 60+ documented hours of shadowing a physician, as well as evidence of meaningful participation in both campus activities and volunteer opportunities.
Students applying to medical school are required to solicit letters of recommendation from a mix of people, including professors, a physician they have shadowed, faculty sponsors of campus activities, and supervisors of volunteer opportunities. A small number of meaningful experiences are better than a long list of one-time contacts.
The following is a list of competencies that all students entering medical school must possess. These concepts are covered in the required courses, but it is the student's responsibility to gain competency (i.e., mastery, complete understanding) of each.
- Apply quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.
- Demonstrate understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, and explain how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated.
- Demonstrate knowledge of basic physical principles and their applications to the understanding of living systems.
- Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles of chemistry and some of their applications to the understanding of living systems.
- Demonstrate knowledge of how biomolecules contribute to the structure and function of cells.
- Apply understanding of principles of how molecular and cell assemblies, organs, and organisms develop structure and carry out function.
- Explain how organisms sense and control their internal environmental and how they respond to external change.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on Earth.
The following course sequence is a guideline meeting only the minimal requirements for admission to the UMMC School of Medicine. 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 MCAT at the end of the Junior year.
Year 1
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program
|
Fall |
Spring |
|
BSB 151 General Biology |
BSB 152 General Biology |
|
BSB 151L General Biology Lab |
BSB 152L General Biology Lab |
|
PSC 111 General Chemistry |
PSC 112 General Chemistry |
|
PSC 111L General Chemistry Lab |
PSC 112L General Chemistry Lab |
|
MA 113 or MA 114 or MA 181 |
Elective (SOC 201 Principles of Sociology |
|
|
or PSY 101 General Psychology) |
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 |
Year 2 Summer (or anytime during year 2)
Shadow medical professionals (20-30 hours)
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 |
|
MA 123 Statistics |
BSB 446 Evolutionary Biology |
|
Electives (SOC 201 Principles of |
BSB 467 Biochemistry |
|
Sociology or PSY 101 General |
|
|
Psychology) |
|
|
|
|
Year 3 Summer (or anytime during year 3)
Shadow medical professional (10-20 hours)
Take MCAT Exam
Year 4
Be sure to participate in activities offered by the Pre-Professional Advising Program
Fall
Shadow medical professionals (10-20 hours to reach a total of 60 hours)
Complete medical school application via AMCAS