Medical School Prerequisites in

Most Common Medical School Prerequisites: What Are They?

While each school varies slightly, most MD programs recommend completing foundational courses in your undergrad such as:

• Biology (with lab)
• Chemistry (with lab)
• Physics (with lab)
• English
• Math or Statistics

Completing these courses ensures you're ready for the rigorous study required in medical school. Most schools also look for competency in social sciences, like psychology, which supports patient communication and understanding.

Here’s a bit more about why these subjects are typical prerequisites for MD and DO programs:

Biology and Chemistry: Building Your Scientific Foundation

Biology is at the core of medicine. Most schools require two semesters of biology with lab experience. These courses provide you with essential knowledge of human systems, cellular biology, and genetics—subjects you’ll encounter frequently in med school.

Chemistry, particularly organic chemistry, is another key prerequisite. You’ll need at least two semesters of chemistry (organic and inorganic) with labs. These courses lay the groundwork for understanding biochemical reactions, drug interactions, and metabolic processes, which are critical for clinical medicine.

Both biology and chemistry are often prerequisites for the MCAT exam, so acing these will put you on a solid path to med school readiness.

Physics and Math: Mastering Critical Thinking

Physics with lab is another common requirement. Med schools expect students to have a grasp of basic physics principles like motion, energy, and waves, as these are relevant to understanding medical technologies such as MRIs or ultrasounds.

Mathematics, including calculus or statistics, rounds out your scientific background. Statistics, in particular, is highly valuable in modern medicine, where data interpretation and evidence-based practice are central to patient care. Some schools, like Canadian medical schools, may emphasize statistics more heavily in their prerequisites.

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English and Communication: Articulating Ideas Effectively

English courses, often two semesters of writing or literature, are frequently overlooked but vital to your success in medical school. You’ll need strong communication skills to excel in patient interactions, case presentations, and medical documentation. Writing clear, coherent reports and notes is just as important as diagnosing conditions. Some schools may even look at these courses to assess your critical thinking and ability to convey complex ideas.

In fact, schools like Harvard Medical School emphasize the importance of humanistic studies to round out your education. These courses help develop empathy and patient communication, which are essential qualities in a future physician.

Social Sciences: Understanding Human Behavior

Psychology and sociology are often recommended prerequisites because they help you understand the human mind and societal influences on health. Courses in these areas provide insights into behavioral science and mental health, which are increasingly important in holistic patient care. Medical schools want students who are not only scientifically adept but also capable of understanding diverse patient experiences.

Additionally, knowledge in the social sciences can enhance your performance in medical school interviews by demonstrating empathy, cultural awareness, and ethical reasoning.

How to Complete Your Medical School Prerequisites

You may be wondering, "How hard is it to get into medical school?" The short answer is: It's very hard and requires ample planning It’s important to remember that medical schools admit students with a wide range of majors, not just students who pursue medical majors, and part of this is that the nature of medicine is quite complex. Social and communication skills are nearly, if not equally, as important as expertise in biochemistry for the practicing physician, so demanding that students develop highly specialized knowledge in physics, for instance, at the cost of exploring literary studies or sociology would be seen as overly narrowing an individual’s development as a well-rounded person.

Additionally, be aware that some schools have time limits in place for completing these prerequisites, so there may be an expiration date for your science and non-sciences prerequisites. For example, some Ivy League medical schools will not accept science prerequisites older than 5 years at the time of application. You must make sure that you check with your school to determine not just what you should take, but whether there is a time limit for how old your prerequisites can be, to confirm your eligibility.

With that said, here are some suggestions for maximizing your prerequisites performance:

Recommended vs Required Medical School Prerequisites: What’s the Difference?

Understanding the difference between required and recommended courses is crucial for a strong med school application.

Required courses are non-negotiable—you must complete them to be considered for admission. These typically include biology, chemistry, physics, and English.

Recommended courses, while not mandatory, can enhance your application. Just because a school doesn’t list prerequisites does NOT mean, for example, that you should skip out on science courses. Electives like biochemistry, psychology, or advanced sciences demonstrate your dedication and academic preparedness. Completing recommended courses shows initiative and may give you an edge over other applicants; if it’s up to you to build your course profile, you should keep these courses in mind. Always check individual school requirements for specifics—one school may require 2 semesters of one subject, whereas another may only recommend it.

Where Can I Find Up-to-Date Prerequisite Information for Med School?

To obtain up-to-date information, we recommend you head to each school's website → MD program page → Admissions information…this is where you’ll find the most up-to-date prerequisite info and other requirements!

The other main resource for medical school prerequisite and recommended courses is the AAMC’s Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) database. Learning how to use MSAR is an extremely helpful skill when you’re beginning to seriously research MD programs, as it contains well-organized pages for hundreds of medical schools that include nearly all of their relevant information, from prerequisites to average graduate debt and everything in between.

Medical School Prerequisites: What About Mature Students?

You’re never too old for medical school or a career change; if you’re a mature student reading this, congrats on taking your first step forward! To attend medical school, you need a bachelor’s degree. But, if you’ve already completed a bachelor’s degree but missed key prerequisites, or if your courses are from 5+ years ago and your chosen program requires more recent grades, you have options such as special master’s programs (SMPs) and post-baccalaureate programs (PBs). Sometimes, applicants benefit from taking ‘refresher’ courses as well, specifically if they’ve been out of school for some time. Post-baccalaureate and special master’s programs both seek to provide non-traditional medical school applicants with the opportunity to better prepare for professional programs like medical school.

Which one is right for you? Speaking with an academic advisor or admissions consultant can certainly help you weigh your options!

Why Are Medical School Prerequisites Important?

Before we wrap up, let’s take a bigger-picture look at why medical school prerequisites are so important:

1. Solid Knowledge Base

Medical doctors need to have a broad knowledge base, with a solid grounding in several subjects, to be effective physicians. Anatomy and physiology courses, while required by some schools, are subjects that will be covered extensively during your medical education. Schools want to know applicants have knowledge of subjects like chemistry, math, English, and other subjects that can’t be covered during medical school due to time constraints.

A physician will need a solid grounding in math and physics to practice in a range of specialties, from internal medicine (calculating various important medical lab values) to radiation oncology (knowing how radiation works and how it affects the body).

Medical school prerequisites also give you the chance to test out your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you’re top of the class in biology but struggle to achieve high grades in your chemistry courses. Gaining thorough knowledge of your scientific strengths and weaknesses during your Bachelor’s can help alert you to knowledge areas you need to improve if you want to succeed in getting a high MCAT score and, later on, in medical school.

Additionally, English courses help physicians write and communicate effectively. Don't forget that your command of the English language must also be demonstrated in application components like the medical school personal statement and medical school secondary essays.

2. Critical Thinking Skills

Most prerequisite courses require more than rote memorization. You will be expected to display your critical thinking, self-learning, and self-assessment skills to succeed in prerequisite courses. These critical thinking abilities are important to success as a medical student and physician, as physicians constantly take part in continuing education, assess their own skills and abilities as practicing clinicians, and strive to improve their performances. Your performance in the prerequisite courses will display these skills to the medical schools’ admissions committees. 

• TIP: These critical thinking skills will also come in handy for the challenging Critical Analysis and Reasoning (CARS) section of the MCAT. As many of you know, you cannot prepare for MCAT CARS by memorizing the passages and answers. It takes months to develop an MCAT CARS strategy that will help you tackle challenging texts. Additionally, you should practice your reading and reasoning skills by using MCAT CARS practice questions.

3. Time and Stress Management

Medical schools want to see that you can succeed while taking a variety of courses, as well as juggling your extracurricular activities. As a physician, you will take part in a variety of activities, from clinical practice to teaching students to administrative or research work. You will also be working long hours.

Succeeding in your prerequisite courses shows medical schools that you can manage competing priorities, do well at a variety of tasks, such as taking tests, writing essays, and completing lab reports, as well as that you can manage your stress with effective strategies, such as exercising, good sleep hygiene, and unwinding with friends or family.

4. MCAT Preparation

There are some medical schools that don't require the MCAT, including some BS/MD programs and medical school early assurance programs like FlexMed, but it is required by most medical schools. MCAT scores have a huge effect on medical school acceptance rates.

While it may be tempting to see med school programs that offer fewer mandatory perquisites as freeing, the truth is that anyone who wants to be a doctor should not shy away from science classes, as these will be important elements of their training. Additionally, science-based questions make up the majority of MCAT content. Taking the necessary prerequisites helps you to develop a strong grounding in sciences and social sciences you will need to ace the MCAT and succeed at medical school.

This means that even if the school you are applying to does not require prerequisites, but does require the MCAT, you should complete courses that will also function as MCAT prep, so you have the required background knowledge to do well on the MCAT.

Don't forget to take an MCAT diagnostic test to help you prioritize which content areas to focus on and create a thorough MCAT study schedule. 

5. Keeping your Options Open

Completing prerequisites and the MCAT keeps your options open. As mentioned above, many medical schools do favor prerequisites and have the MCAT as a mandatory requirement, so completing all of the prerequisites gives you plenty of medical schools to choose from when the application time comes. Doing the bear minimum may limit your options in a way you will regret later.

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To your success,

Your friends at BeMo

BeMo Academic Consulting

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