Course Planning
Course planning can be confusing. We're here to help! Here is a list of commonly asked questions from students who are interested in pre-health.
Most prehealth programs will require Anatomy and Physiology. Biol 111/112 will satisfy this requirement.
Most health professional programs also require a year-long introductory series (BIOL 115/116). Students are encouraged to take this sequence their first year if they meet the math and English prerequisites.
Other courses like Genetics (BIOL 260) and Microbiology (BIOL 342) are recommended courses for many programs.
CHEM 103 is a great place to start for students with little or no chemistry background,
however this
course does not meet general prehealth chemistry requirements. Many health professional
schools
expect a year of general chemistry. This would include CHEM 105/106.
Students interested in Nursing should consider CHEM 103/104, a year-long sequence
that combines both general and organic chemistry.
Organic and Biochemistry are dependent on the program you will be pursuing but quite
a few programs require Biochemistry that has an organic chemistry prerequisite. At
UAF, CHEM 321 and CHEM 351would meet these requirements. Some programs will also require
a second semester of Organic Chemistry and CHEM 325 would meet that course.
There are two introductory physics sequences and students should select the one that is the best fit with their intended major and profession. Pre-health students usually take PHYS 123/124, including labs. Students planning on engineering, computer science or physical science majors should take PHYS 211/213.
We encourage students to research their intended major(s) and health professional programs to determine how much math coursework Is needed. Some programs will require calculus, while some programs will require statistics. Statistics may be included in entrance exams like the MCAT. Students are encouraged to take their math courses sooner rather than later as their intended major or profession may require additional math coursework.
Almost all programs require, at a minimum, 2 semesters of English/writing courses. These typically include courses like Composition I and Composition II. At UAF, WRTG 111 and WRTG 211/212/213/214 could meet this requirement.
All programs will require some type of social science and humanities classes, typically at minimum 12-15 credits. This can includes courses like psychology (PSY 101), philosophy (PHIL 102 or PHIL 104) and economics (ECON 201 or ECON 202).