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Pre-health Studies

Pre-medical Path

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Pre-health Studies

Physicians (M.D., D.O.) provide care to patients through the diagnosis and treatment of disease, injury, and mental disabilities. In addition to patient care, doctors sometimes conduct medical research, teach, and/or are administrators of medical centers. There are two pathways to becoming a physician: allopathic medicine, which leads to an M.D. or osteopathic medicine, which leads to a D.O. For more information on becoming a medical doctor, see the Physician section at this link.

Information about Oswego's cooperative D.O. program with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine can be found here.

Starting with your first semester of college, you are accumulating the credentials to apply to medical schools. Applicants are expected to have:

  • Completed a bachelor's degree in any major
  • Completed medical school course requirements (see below)
  • Earn excellent grades; overall and science GPAs should be at least a 3.5 for M.D. programs and a 3.3 for D.O. programs
  • Earn a good score on the MCAT; ideally scores should be at least a 507
  • Obtain a HPAC Recommendation Letter
  • Involve yourself in health-related shadowing, volunteering, and research experience

Course Requirements

These are the courses at SUNY Oswego that are recommended you complete to prepare for the MCAT and meet medical school requirements (note, there is some variation in course requirements for medical programs, so be sure to check the requirements of the programs you plan on applying to):

Course Requirements SUNY Oswego Course Notes
One Year of Biology Bio 120 and either Bio 340 or Bio 370
  • All courses offered every semester
  • Bio 120 is the prerequisite to Bio 340 and 370
  • If not a Biology or Zoology major, you will need permission to register from the Biological Sciences Chair
One year of General (Inorganic) Chemistry Che 111 (113 lab) and Che 212 (214 lab)
  • All courses offered every semester
One year of Organic Chemistry Che 331 (333 lab) and Che 332 (334 lab)
  • Che 331 is Fall only
  • Che 332 is Spring only
One year of Physics Phy 111 and 212 or Phy 112 and 213
  • Phy 111/212 is algebra-based
  • Phy 112/213 is calculus-based
  • All courses are offered every semester
One semester of Biochemistry Che 360 or 461
  • Not required by all medical schools but material is on the MCAT
  • Labs are not required unless they are required for your major
  • Che 360 is Spring only
  • Che 461 is Fall only
  • Che 360 is recommended for students who wish to learn basic biochemistry. Che 461 & 462 are recommended for those seeking an in depth understanding of biochemistry
One Year of English Eng 102 and either Eng 203, 204, 302, or 304
  • Eng 102 offered every semester, others vary
One semester of Psychology Psy 100
  • Not required by all medical schools but material is on the MCAT
One semester of Sociology Soc 100
  • Not required by all medical schools but material is on the MCAT
One semester of Math Mat 158 or Mat 179 and/or Mat 210
  • Not required by all medical schools, some require statistics and/or calculus