Course Requirements

General Requirements. Because health professions schools place a priority on well rounded achievement, the prehealth course requirements are really surprisingly simple. For admission you need a baccalaureate degree from a four-year college. You should focus on meeting the requirements for your major with demonstrated excellence and with rigor. Beyond the courses for your major, you need generally courses from three of the sciences:

  • 2 semesters of biology including laboratory
  • 4 semesters of chemistry (2 semesters of general chemistry and 2 of organic chemistry) including lab
  • 2 semester of physics.

Mathematical Preparation. Prehealth schools assume that your baccalaureate degree requires courses in mathematics (preferring calculus). Some schools require mathematics courses, others do not. Some schools will accept statistics and must be aware of the individual math requirements of the schools to which you plan to apply. Please be aware that in order to take a physics sequence at Duke, you must have a background in calculus. Please see the course prerequisites for further information. Thus, if you are a humanities major, you might want to take additional electives in the sciences.

Humanities Courses. On the other hand, if you are a science major, taking electives in the humanities can demonstrate broader cross-disciplinary skills. Most schools require that you take at least two semesters of English or literature coursework. Some schools will allow courses that are considered “writing intensive” to satisfy this requirement.

Biochemistry and Statistics. There are health professions schools that require that students take an undergraduate course in biochemistry prior to matriculation. Other schools do not mandate this, but strongly recommend this to their incoming students. Although most schools do not have a statistics course requirement, you may find a background in statistics to be very helpful as you pursue your career in health care.

Academic Performance. Go beyond the basics. Engage rigorously. Make sure your GPA in the premed requirements is equal to or higher than your overall GPA which needs to be at least a high “B” to meet general admissions requirements, depending on specific medical school thresholds.

Many health professions schools have individual requirements that go beyond this inital set of course requirements. This is especially true for schools of veterinary medicine. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE AWARE OF INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS so that you will have completed the appropriate coursework by the time you plan to apply. The best way to accomplish this is to regularly check individual school website so that you can be up to date on any particular requirements for each institution.

With a full offering of exciting majors to choose from and a wide range of experiential opportunities through which to explore medicine, Duke provides excellent preparation for successful careers in the health professions.