Pre-Medical Professions Concentration

  1. Overview
  2. Policies
  3. Overall Curriculum
  4. Career-Specific Advising/Curriculum Tracks
  5. Advice for all students in the concentration

Overview

The Pre-Medical Professions concentration serves advanced BS Biology students pursing MD (medical doctor), DO (doctor of osteopathic medicine), DPM (Podiatrist), DVM (Veterinarian), Pharm D. (Pharmacy), PA (physician assistant), PT (physical therapy; non 3+3 applicants), and O.D. (Optometry) schools, and related graduate programs (e.g. Occupational Therapy, MS & Ph.D.).  BS Biology majors in high academic standing can enter the Pre-Medical Professions concentration after completing the biology core.  However, students in any Biology concentration, or in BS Biotechnology, can also pursue the full array of medical careers.  The BS Biology degree is the only degree at WPU that requires no coursework outside of the major requirements to apply for medical school (MD & DO), Dental School, Vet school, and Pharmacy school, and requires only one extra course (General Anatomy & Physiology II) for PA and PT school. The Biology department also houses: 

  • Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED), the health pre-professional honor society, WPU Chapter
  • Pre-Professional Student Clubs: Future Healthcare Providers (FHP) (serving all pre-medical professions), pre- SOMA (a pre-DO club), and the pre-PT club.

  

Policies

  1. BS Biology students wishing to enter a medical profession (MD, DO, Vet, Pharm, PA, PT, O.D. etc.) enter as a BS Biology major in the Biology department in the General concentration. All students must establish a WPU GPA, and complete the five biology core courses while in the concentration - BIO1620 General Biology: Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity, BIO1630 General Biology: Cell, Molecular and Genetics, BIO2040 General Biology: Physiology, BIO2050 Cell Biology, and BIO2060 Genetics.
  2. After completing all five of biology core courses - students who maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher may remain in the Pre-Medical Professions concentration. Student may declare the Pre-Medical Professions concentration using the “Request to Add/Declare or Change Major” link under the “Academic Services” heading in WPConnect.

Overall Curriculum

 For the official Undergraduate Catalog curriculum page click HERE.

 Career-Specific Advising/Curriculum Tracks

 The career-specific advising tracks below contain the best and most current general guidance available, and therefore represent GENERAL information about entrance requirements and recommended course work.  It is the responsibility of each pre-medical professions student to have investigated admissions requirements for their target schools well prior to building their application.  

Advice for All Students in the Pre-Medical Professions Concentration

  • For most medical school programs, a high science GPA is as or more important than the overall academic GPA for entrance.  This means that for any pre-med student, the core Biology courses and co-requirements taken before entry into the Pre-Medical Professions concentration are a very important part of your academic record and should be treated accordingly.
  • All Pre-Medical Professions students are strongly encouraged to actively participate in the Future Healthcare Providers (FHP) club, and other related clubs like preSOMA or pre-PT. It is advisable to also participate in these clubs as executive board members as it will help satisfy the leadership experience which is often part of a successful applicant’s profile
  • Upon entrance into the Pre-Medical Professions concentration, the student should meet with the pre-professional advisor (Dr. Claire Leonard) to discuss and plan progress through the concentration and to establish future application deadlines. It is important at this time to also discuss internship/shadowing hours (those already accrued and/or those needed before the time of application).
  • Check on your own and know for yourself all of the specific prerequisite, suggested courses and application/entry requirements for all of the professional schools that you might apply to (that is, for your “target schools”).