Preprofessional Studies
Medicine | Podiatry |  Chiropractic Medicine  |  Dentistry | Pharmacy | Optometry | Veterinary

PRE-PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS

ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE (M.D.)

OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE (D.O.)

PODIATRIC MEDICINE (D.P.M.)

These areas are listed together as they have the same requirements and require that the applicant take the MCAT exam. All three areas require: In essence, one year of each course is needed. For allopathic medical school, it is suggested that the applicant take a year of calculus and then take the calculus-based physics course. The calculus-based course is not required but admissions people claim that applicants with this background do better in the last two years of medical school.

The four courses listed above form the basis of the MCAT and, therefore, should be completed prior to taking that exam. Normally, an applicant would take the exam at the end of the junior year. If the applicant does not take the exam until the fall of the senior year, the medical schools will not see the test scores and begin application deliberations until December, at the earliest. By this time, the entering medical class for the following fall will be at least half-full, making acceptance much more competitive.

In addition to these four courses, osteopathic medical schools and podiatric schools add the requirement of:
 

Usually, this requirement is filled by taking professional writing or a desired literature course in addition to the freshman composition course, required of all students.
 

CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINE

Applicants will have taken minimum of 90 semester hours at the college level including:
SCIENCE:
The science courses should be the equivalent to one academic year, completed in 2 or more academic terms, and must include the corresponding laboratory.
 ENGLISH:
SOCIAL SCIENCES and HUMANITIES:
Social Sciences and Humanities include, but are not limited to, most courses in Economics, Education, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Art (History or Appreciation only), Drama (History or Appreciation only), Music (History or Appreciation only), Languages, Literature, English, Logic, Philosophy, and Religon.  Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Admissions to check whether a particular course is considered a Social Science or Humanities course.

The above requirements were taken from the catalog from National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, IL.
 

DENTISTRY (D.D.S.)

Although the P261-262 sequence will fill the anatomy and the physiology requirements, the students will be better served if they elect to take Z380, Comparative Anatomy & Histology followed the next year by P460, Comparative Physiology. The above new requirements have been added to stregthen the applicant, once in dental school. Therefore, the rigorous the course, the better prepared the student will be, once in dental school.

These requirements are taken from the Indiana University School of Dentistry catalog.

The major problem with the organic chemistry requirement is that, during the first year of dental school, the student will be placed in a biochemistry course and it is felt that the second semester of organic chemistry will greatly aid the student at this time.

For dentistry, the applicant must take the DAT. For the two- and three-dimensional visualization parts of the exam, the applicant may wish to review a mechanical drawing book.

An intern program is available for students to work with dentists during their undergraduate program in order to become acquainted with the profession.

Supplementary materials required include a $35 application fee, current photograph, official DAT scores and three letters of recommendation.
 

PHARMACY

Purdue:

This is a quote from a letter received from the Purdue University School of Pharmacy  dated 30 August 1994: In addition, we require a total of twenty-eight hours of general education credits in order to earn the B.S. in Pharmacy or Pharm. D. degree. English, economics and computer science will count toward this requirement, necessitating an additional 16 credits to be completed. We strongly encourage students to complete as many of these 16 credits as possible during the prepharmacy years."

Before applying for admission to Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, you should contact one of the academic advisors in the Office of Student Services for current, accurate information on your situation. Early in October of each year you may secure an application by writing to the Office of Student Services, Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, 1330 Robert Heine Pharmacy Building Room 156, West Lafayette, IN 47907.

The application for admission must be submitted to Purdue University, Office of Admissions, Schleman Hall Room 109, West Lafayette, IN 47907 on or before January 5 to ensure consideration for the following fall semester.

Eligibility for admission will be determined by a review of your high school and college records. You should achieve at least a "B" average for all courses previously taken at a recognized college or university. Those courses taken at any college or university outside of the Purdue University Regional Campus System will transfer as credit only and be recorded as such; however, all grades earned at an accredited college or university will be used for admission purposes. Please note that only a "C" grade or better will transfer.
 

Chicago College of Pharmacy:

Basically, the Chicago College of Pharmacy has a 2 + 3 program in which the student takes two years of college work followed by three years of pharmacy class work. Their listed Pre-Pharmacy requirements and the suggested IUN courses are:
 
COURSE SEMESTER HOURS IUN COURSES

OPTOMETRY (O.D.)

The preoptometry requirements, with the MINIMUM number of hours required, are: Other courses to total 90 credit hours, of which 20 must be at the 300-400 level.

These requirements are taken from the The Indiana University School of Optometry  catalog.

The applicant must take the OAT exam.
 

VETERINARY (D.V.M.)

With the limited number of spaces available, competition is probably more intense than what is seen at medical schools. The pre-veterinary requirements are: All of the science courses must include laboratory.

Humanities include language, cognitive sciences and social sciences.

Highly recommended courses include macroeconomics, nutrition, computers and business writing.

Courses in animal sciences are desirable.

These requirements are taken from the Purdue University's School of Veterinary Medicine catalog.

The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) must be taken prior to admission to Purdue. Other veterinary schools require the Veterinary College Aptitude Test (VCAT).
 

Dr. Timothy A. Stabler
Department of Biology 
Indiana University Northwest
Gary, Indiana  46408
Phone:  (219) 980-6718
Fax: (219) 980-7125
e-mail:  tstabler@iun.edu
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Comments: Tim Stabler