Pre-Requisites for Post-Graduate Health Programs

Information on preparation for professional health schools

Medical schools, Veterinary schools, Physician Assistant programs, Pharmacy schools, Physical Therapist programs, and Occupational Therapy programs. For Nursing or Nurse Practitioner information, please see CSUB’s Department of Nursing.

Most of these programs require a Bachelor’s degree, but which degree is a common question. Technically, any Bachelor’s degree is sufficient as long as you meet the appropriate prerequisites for the program (see tables below). However, degrees in most fields do not require many (or any) prerequisites for these programs, so pursuing those degrees will involve taking a lot of additional courses to meet medical school prerequisites.

Degrees in Biology and Chemistry are common largely because those degrees require courses that are also prerequisites for these programs, reducing the number of additional courses needed to earn the degree AND meet prerequisites. Non-science prerequisites can often be met with appropriate selection of General Education (GE) coursework. Even with these degrees, however, you may still find yourself needing to take a few additional courses to meet all prerequisites. The links below contain tables showing courses at CSUB best used to satisfy prerequisites for these programs mapped to appropriate degrees at CSUB.

These programs also typically require some appropriate volunteer, internship or employment experience. Visit the Center for Career Education and Community Engagement (CECE) for assistance in finding opportunities to gain these experiences.

Links to preparation at CSUB for various professional Health programs (or just scroll down):

Medical schools
Occupational Therapy programs
Pharmacy schools
Physical Therapist programs
Physician Assistant programs
Veterinary schools

Medical School

Table 1 — Common prerequisite courses for Medical school programs from AAMC Admission Requirements for Students and Residents. MSAR allows you to search specific requirements for over 170 medical schools. Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses.

Table 1: Medical School Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BS Biology	BA Human Biological Science	BS Chemistry	BS Biochemistry
Biology with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-	Required
Biology with Lab (Course 2) All possible courses listed. Be aware that some schools specify Biology courses other than Human Anatomy (BIOL 2210) and Human Physiology (BIOL 2220).	One of the following: BIOL 2110 BIOL 2120 BIOL 2210 BIOL 2220	BIOL 2110 & BIOL 2120 Required	BIOL 2210 & BIOL 2220 Required	-	Required to complete either BIOL 2110 or BIOL 2120.
Genetics	BIOL 3010	Required	Required	-	Elective option
General Chemistry One-Year Sequence	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 & CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 Required CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 Required¹	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 Required	All Required	All Required
Organic Chemistry with Lab	CHEM 2300 & CHEM 3300 & CHEM 3301	CHEM 2300 Required	CHEM 2300 Required	All Required	All Required
Biochemistry Sometimes optional or instead of Organic Chemistry	CHEM 2400	-	-	Required	Required
Physics with Lab (Course 1)	PHYS 2110 OR PHYS 2210	Required	-	Required	Required
Physics with Lab (Course 2)	PHYS 2120 OR PHYS 2220	Required¹	-	Required	Required
Mathematics (Course 1) Calculus I (most common) or Statistics (introductory)	One of the following: MATH 2010 MATH 2310 MATH 2510 MATH 2200	Required¹	-	Required	Required
Mathematics (Course 2) Calculus 2 (most common) or Statistics (advanced)	One of the following: MATH 2020 MATH 2320 MATH 2520 MATH 3210	-	-	Required	Required
English	ENGL 1109	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Sociology	Any GE SOC option: Lower division recommended	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option
Psychology	Any GE PSYC option: PSYC 3248 recommended	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option

¹Not Required prior to Fall 2025

Occupational Therapy Programs

Table 2 — Common prerequisite courses for Occupational Therapy from UNLV's OTD and Creighton University's OTD programs. Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses. Both Master’s and Doctorate programs are available in Occupational Therapy.

Table 2: Occupational Therapy Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BA Human Biological Sciences	BS Biology	BS Kinesiology	BA Psychology
Human Anatomy / A&P with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2210	Required	-	Required	-
Human Physiology / A&P with Lab (Course 2)	BIOL 2220	Required	-	Required	-
Other Biology with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-	-
Other Biology with Lab (Course 2)	(see program)	BIOL 2230	BIOL 2110	BIOL 2230	-
Medical Terminology	NURS 1010	-	-	Elective option	-
General/Intro Psychology	PSYC 1018	GE option	GE option	GE option	Required
Developmental Psychology	PSYCH 2250	-			Elective option
Abnormal Psychology	PSYC 3270	-	-	-	Elective option
English Composition	ENGL 1109	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Sociology	-	GE option	Required	GE option	Required
Statistics	MATH 1209 or equivalent	Required	-	GE option	-

Pharmacy School

Table 3 — Common prerequisite courses for Pharmacy school programs from PharmCAS. The table in this document provides specific requirements over 160 programs. Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses.

Table 3: Pharmacy School Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BS Biology	BA Human Biological Science	BS Chemistry	BS Biochemistry
General Biology (Course 1)	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-	Required
General Biology (Course 2)	One of the following: BIOL 2110 BIOL 2120 BIOL 2230	BIOL 2110 & BIOL 2120 Required	BIOL 2230 Required	-	Required to complete either BIOL 2110 or BIOL 2120.
Human Anatomy	BIOL 2210	-	Required	-	-
Human Physiology	BIOL 2220	-	Required	-	-
Genetics Common; Not Universal	BIOL 3010	Required	Required	-	Elective option
General Chemistry One-Year Sequence	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 & CHEM 1100 & CHEM1600	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 Required CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 Required¹	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 Required	All Required	All Required
Organic Chemistry (Course 1)	CHEM 2300	Required	Required	Required	Required
Organic Chemistry (Course 2)	CHEM 3300	-	-	Required	Required
Organic Chemistry Lab Common; Not Universal	CHEM 3301	-	-	Required	Required
Biochemistry	CHEM 2400	-	-	Required	Required
Physics with Lab (Course 1)	PHYS 2110 OR PHYS 2210	Required	-	Required	Required
Physics with Lab (Course 2) Common; Not Universal	PHYS 2120 OR PHYS 2220	Required¹	-	Required	Required
Mathematics Calculus 1 (most common) or BioStatistics	One of the following: MATH 2010 MATH 2310 MATH 2510 BIOL 3120 MATH 3210	Required¹	-	Required	Required
English/Written communication	ENGL 1109	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Oral Communication	GE Area IC	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Social/Behavioral Science - Sociology	Any GE SOC course	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option
Social/Behavioral Science - Psychology	PSYC 1018	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option

¹Not Required prior to Fall 2025

Physical Therapy Programs

Table 4 — Common prerequisite courses for Physical Therapy programs from the American Physical Therapists Association. Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses. Both Master’s and Doctorate programs are available in Physical Therapy.

Table 4: Physical Therapy Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BA Human Biological Sciences	BS Biology	BS Kinesiology
Human Anatomy / A&P with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2210	Required	-	Required
Human Physiology / A&P with Lab (Course 2)	BIOL 2220	Required	-	Required
Biology (Course 1) Not Botany or Zoology	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-
Biology (Course 2) Not Botany or Zoology	BIOL 2230	Required	-	Elective Option
General Chemistry with Lab (Course 1)	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001	Both Required	Both Required	CHEM 1000 as elective. CHEM 1001 not required.
General Chemistry with Lab (Course 2)	CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 & CHEM 1001	-	All Required¹	-
General Physics with Lab (Course 1)	PHYS 2110	-	Required	-
General Physics with Lab (Course 2)	PHYS 2120	-	Required¹	-
Psychology	PSYC 1018	GE option	GE option	GE option
Statistics	MATH 1209 or equivalent	Required	-	GE option

¹Not Required prior to Fall 2025.

PT Centralized Application service: https://www.apta.org/your-career/careers-in-physical-therapy/pt-admissions-process.

Physician Assistant Programs

Table 5 — Common Physician Assistant prerequisites from American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA). Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses.

Table 5: Physician Assistant Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BA Human Biological Sciences	BS Biology	BS Chemistry	BS Biochemistry
Human Anatomy / A&P with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2210	Required	-	-	-
Human Physiology / A&P with Lab (Course 2)	BIOL 2220	Required	-	-	-
Microbiology	BIOL 2230	Required	-	-	-
Biology Unspecified	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-	-
Genetics	BIOL 3010	Required	Required	-	-
Medical Terminology	NURS 1010	-	-	-	-
General Chemistry with Lab (Course 1)	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001	Both Required	Both Required	Both Required	Both Required
General Chemistry with Lab (Course 2)	CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 & CHEM 1001	-	All Required¹	All Required	All Required
Organic Chemistry	CHEM 2300	Required	Required	Required	Required
Biochemistry	CHEM 2400	-	-	Required	Required
English Composition	ENGL 1109	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Psychology	PSYC 1018	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option
Statistics	MATH 1209 or equivalent	Required	-	GE option	-

¹Not Required prior to Fall 2025

Veterinary School

Table 6 — Common prerequisite courses for Veterinary School programs from Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. AAVMC has list of prerequisites from over 50 international programs. Be aware that translation between different universities may be problematic. For example, their information for UC Davis indicates semester/quarter hours but really should be in terms of number (#) of courses. Please be aware that some schools will differ from these basic courses, and you are encouraged to refer to schools you are considering to ensure that you meet all requirements. Regardless of degree, prerequisite courses that are not required may be taken as additional courses.

Table 6: Veterinary School Prerequisites
Subject	CSUB Course(s)	BS Biology	BS Human Biological Sciences	BS Chemistry	BS Biochemistry
Intro Biology with Lab (Course 1)	BIOL 2010	Required	Required	-	Required
Intro Biology with Lab (Course 2)	One of the following: BIOL 2110 BIOL 2120 BIOL 2210 BIOL 2230	BIOL 2110 & BIOL 2120 Required	BIOL 2210 & BIOL 2230 Required	-	Required to complete either BIOL 2110 or BIOL 2120.
Physiology	BIOL 3020	Required	Required	-	Elective option
General Chemistry One-Year Sequence/2 Semesters	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 1001 & CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 100 Required CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 Required¹	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 100 Required	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 100 Required CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 Required	CHEM 1000 & CHEM 100 Required CHEM 1100 & CHEM 1600 Required
Organic Chemistry with Lab 2 semesters	CHEM 2300 & CHEM 3300 & CHEM 3301	CHEM 2300 Required	CHEM 2300 Required	All Required	All Required
Biochemistry	CHEM 2400	-	-	Required	Required
Physics (Course 1)	PHYS 2110 OR PHYS 2210	Required	-	Required	Required
Physics (Course 2)	PHYS 2120 OR PHYS 2220	Required¹	-	Required	Required
Mathematics Calculus 1 (most common) or Statistics (introductory)	One of the following: MATH 2010 MATH 2310 MATH 2510 MATH 2200	Required¹	-	Required	Required
English	ENGL 1109	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE	Required GE
Sociology	Any GE SOC option: Lower division recommended	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option
Psychology	Any GE PSYC option: PSYC 3248 recommended	GE option	GE option	GE option	GE option

¹Not Required prior to Fall 2025