Curriculum Outline

Central Connecticut State University does not have a "pre-med" major. This is not required, nor do admissions committees of health professions schools prefer it. Most students major in the sciences although this is not required either. For most professional schools, there is a basic set of courses that are required as follows:

• General Biology: This may be satisfied by BIO 121 & 122 or BMS 102/103/190 & BMS 201
• General Chemistry: CHEM 161/162 & 163/164
• Organic Chemistry: CHEM 210/211 & 212/213
• General Physics: PHYS 125 & 126 or 121 & 122
• Math: MATH 124 or Math 115 & 125 or Math 119 & Math 125 or Math 119 & Math 152

Most medical schools require these courses. However, dental, physician assistant (PA), veterinary, nursing, chiropractic and podiatry schools do vary in their requirements. Check the websites of the schools you are interested in attending and note their specific requirements. These sheets should be part of your student portfolio. Contents of the portfolio will be discussed in a separate section (below).

As a pre-health professions student you have three goals 1) to be admitted to professional school 2) to be a successful health professional student and 3) to be a successful health professional. The courses listed above are the MINIMUM that could prepare you for the MCAT or other professional school admissions test. The MCAT exam and many other professional exams are taken in April of your junior year, or August following your junior year. THE COURSES LISTED ABOVE NEED TO BE COMPLETED BY SPRING OF YOUR JUNIOR YEAR!!

To ensure your success as a health professional student, we highly recommend that you take additional science courses, to expose you to material you will see again in health professional school. There is a wide range of courses available in Biology, Biomolecular Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology or Math that you may be interested in taking and you should discuss this with your advisor or with Dr. Osei.

Course Schedule

We have listed below a suggested schedule for the courses needed for admissions to and exam preparation for professional schools. Note that you will need to add courses as required for your major, minor and the general education requirements. Also, depending on the type and actual professional school you plan on attending, there may be other requirements that substitute for the suggested courses below. You may discuss your options with Dr. Osei and your advisor.

We realize that this curriculum presumes you have decided on your profession before entering CCSU. If you have not followed this curriculum, see Dr. Osei and your advisor immediately. We have had many successful medical students who began their career preparation later, but advising is essential.

Portfolio

We suggest that you develop a portfolio during your undergraduate career. This portfolio will contain at least the following:

1. Current transcripts
2. Current resume
3. Personal narrative - why are your interested in pursuing this health profession?
4. Admission requirements of the schools you are interested in applying to.
5. Names and contact information of professors, employers, health professionals who know you well enough to give you a favorable letter of recommendation
6. Abstracts of any research you have done as an undergraduate
7. Awards received
8. Publications

If you maintain a portfolio throughout your college career, completing your professional school application will be easy. In our experience, students who do not have a portfolio when they begin the application process, not only struggle with the application, but also under-represent their accomplishments.

The Pre-Health Professions Advisory Committee will also ask to see your portfolio when they interview you in May of your junior year

Website Administrator Michael Davis
Revised 12/09/06 08:44 PM

URL http://www.prehealth.ccsu.edu/curriculum.htm