PreMed and PreHealth Advising

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PreMed and PreHealth Studies

The PreMed and PreHealth Advising Program provides support for Northeastern students who are planning to pursue training in medicine, including allopathic medicine (MD), osteopathic medicine (DO), dentistry, optometry, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine, and veterinary medicine.

Academic course requirements for health professional programs may be integrated into any major at Northeastern. Health professional school admission committees generally give no preference to any particular undergraduate major. As such, students should focus on meeting the course requirements of their chosen field of study, together with their health professional school requirements, with demonstrated academic rigor and excellence. For some majors it may be necessary to complete additional credit hours of coursework, with associated tuition, to fulfill all premed/prehealth course requirements. 

Prerequisite Courses

Most health professional schools require a common set of courses.The courses listed below meet the course requirements of many health professional programs. These are intended to provide a foundation in subject areas relevant to the student’s intended health professional program and its corresponding entrance exam. It is the student’s responsibility to research the academic requirements for specific schools of interest and work with their advisers to determine an appropriate course of study.

Note: Corequisite laboratories are required for most science courses.

Biology

Two semesters 

General Chemistry

Two semesters (or a combined general chemistry course)

Organic Chemistry

Two semesters

Physics

Two semesters

Mathematics

One semester each of calculus and statistics

English Composition/Writing-Intensive

Two semesters

Behavioral Sciences

One semester each of psychology and sociology (for MCAT preparation)

Additional Science Coursework

The following coursework is required or recommended by many programs and necessary for MCAT  preparation:

  • Genetics and molecular biology
  • Biochemistry

Supporting Information

Academic policies and course requirements are school specific. Students should research requirements and plan a program of study as early as possible in consultation with both their major and premed/prehealth adviser to to determine the best way to successfully complete their required coursework. Please refer to the relevant information and website(s) below, as well as official admissions guidebooks, for detailed requirements.

Study Abroad/Foreign Coursework

Not all health professional schools will accept core science (biology, chemistry, math, or physics) prerequisite coursework taken outside of the United States or Canada.

If you are planning to take core science prerequisite coursework abroad, it is recommended you enroll in an American college overseas (i.e., American College of Thessaloniki, John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, etc.). Despite the fact these institutions are physically located outside of the United States, these schools have received accreditation from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and are treated like any other U.S. or Canadian school.

If you are considering attending a foreign institution outside of the United States or Canada, please contact the schools you are interested in applying to before going overseas to ensure that your coursework will be accepted.

AP/IB Credit

Each school will have their own policy regarding AP/IB credit, and it is best to consult with their website or admissions office to find out more about their policy. Generally, students may use AP and IB credit toward prerequisite courses. However, AP/IB credit often does not reduce the required coursework needed at the college level. Applicants may be expected to take the equivalent number of upper-level courses within the discipline if students have been granted AP/IB credit.

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