Natural Science Division

Pre-Health Professions: Medical School Course Requirements

Pepperdine Courses Recommended to Satisfy Medical and/or Dental School Requirements

As a pre-med student at Pepperdine, it is recommended that students take the following courses. This list provides the general minimum requirements for the medical, dental, and veterinary schools to which Pepperdine students usually apply. For details on particular schools and their requirements, see the publications "Medical School Admission Requirements" and "ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools".

Recommended minimum courses for medical and/or dental schools	Required semester hours	Pepperdine University Recommended to fulfill these requirements
Chemistry (general)	8	Chem 120 + 121- General Chemistry I and II
Organic	8	Chem 310 + 311 - Organic Chemistry I and II
Biology (introductory)	8	Biol 211 - Biology of Cells Biol 270 - Principles of Human Physiology
Advanced		Biol 350 - Genetics Biol 410 - Principles of Physiology for biology and chemistry bachelor of science majors Biol 420 - Microbiology Chem 330 - Cellular Biochemistry Chem 430 - Bioorganic chemistry
Physics (introductory)	8	Physics 102 + 103 - Basic Physics I and II Physics 210 + 211 - Physics I and II (calculus based)
Mathematics	8	Math 210 - Analytical Geometry and Calc I or Math 211 - Analytical Geometry and Calc II Math 316 + 317 - Biostatistics
English Composition	6	English 101 - Great Books, etc.
Additional Courses		The above listed requirements should be regarded as general requirements and students must be aware of additional required or recommended classes of individual institutions by looking these up in MSAR and/or Official Guide to Dental School.

For a recommended sequence of courses click HERE
For course availability click HERE

Other Information About Required Courses

Major Courses

Students should work with their academic advisors to plan their course requirements for their major.  If you are a science major it is less likely that your pre-med science requirements will conflict with your major requirements.

Summer School Courses

Pepperdine offers many summer school courses. It is an excellent time for pre-med majors to catch up on general education courses or explore an overseas program.  The only science classes regularly offered in summer school are Chemistry 121 and Physics 102 and 103.

Courses for the Medical School Admission Test (MCAT)

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized test consisting of four parts: essays (one part) and three multiple-choice tests (verbal reasoning, physical sciences, and biological sciences) (one-part each). In order to prepare for this test we recommend taking the basic requirements listed above and making sure to add biochemistry.  It is advisable to include both human physiology and genetics courses in the biology courses you take.  All of these classes should be taken by spring or summer of your Junior year when the MCAT must be taken if you plan on attending medical school immediately following graduation.

Withdrawing from a course

Medical schools do not like to see a "W" on a transcript. Only drop a course if you are getting a D or an F and there is no way to bring your grade up. Do not withdraw from a class because you no longer need it for graduation or are changing your major. When applying to medical school you will have to explain why you dropped the class.

Advanced Placement (AP)

At Pepperdine you can receive pre-med course credit for calculus and physics if you have the required AP scare. Please refer to the AP course credit handout from Pepperdine University.  Be aware that some medical schools such as UCLA will not accept any AP course credits even though they were accepted at Pepperdine.  Check individual medical school requirements lists to see what is needed.  If you need to take a math class for example and you already have tested out of Analytical Geometry and Calculus I, then it is advisable to take a higher level course in math which could be Analytical Geometry and Calculus II.