Course roadmap

CSUB Pre-medical Curriculum at a Glance, for Most Med Schools

BIOL 2010 (Intro Bio: Cells) and BIOL 2110 (Intro Bio: Animals) or 2210 (Human Anatomy) (Intro Bio and Bio laboratory: 8 units)
CHEM 1000, 1001, 1100, and 1600 (general chemistry and chemistry laboratory: 9 units)
CHEM 2300, 3300, and 3301 (organic chemistry lecture and laboratory: 8 units)
CHEM 2400 (foundations of Biochemistry: 2 Units) and CHEM 3400 (Biochemistry of Metabolic Pathways: 2 Units)
PHYS 2110 and 2120 or PHYS 2210 and 2220 (Physics: 8 units)
Math 2200 (Statistical Methods 4 Units)
Math 2010 and Math 2020 (Calculus for Life Science I and II: 4 units each)
English (e.g. composition/literature: 6 units)
Behavioral Sciences (e.g. psychology, anthropology, sociology: 3 units)

Roadmap by Major

Most medical schools 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 medical school (see below). However, degrees in most fields do not require many (or any) of the prerequisites for medical schools, 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 med school, reducing the number of additional courses needed to earn the degree AND meet medical school prerequisites. Even with these degrees, however, you may still find yourself needing to take a few additional courses to meet all medical school prerequisites. Table 1 below shows the courses at CSUB best used to satisfy med school prerequisites, along with how those courses map to the main Biology and Chemistry degrees at CSUB.

If a prerequisite course for medical school is not listed as required for a given degree program, a student interested in medical school will need to take those classes in addition to those required for their degree.

Table 1. Most Common Prerequisite courses for medical school 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.
Prerequisite commonly needed for medical school	CSUB Course(s)	BS Biology	BA Human Biological Science	BS Chemistry	BS Biochemistry
Biology with lab (2 courses)	-	-	-	-	-
Course 1	BIOL 2010	Required	Required		Required
Course 2	BIOL 2110 OR BIOL 2120 OR BIOL 2210 OR BIOL 2230	Required Required	Required Required	-	One of BIOL 2110 or 2120 required.
Genetics	BIOL 3010	Required	Required	-	Elective Option
General Chemistry (one-year Sequence)	CHEM 1000 & 1001 AND CHEM 1100 & 1600	Required Required*	Required	Required Required	Required Required
Organic Chemistry with lab	CHEM 2300 AND CHEM 3300 & 3301	Required	Required	Required Required	Required Required
Biochemistry (sometimes optional or instead of Organic Chemistry)	CHEM 2400	-	-	Required	Required
Physics (two semesters with lab)	-	-	-	Required	Required
Course 1	PHYS 2110 OR PHYS 2210	Required	-	Required	Required
Course 2	PHYS 2120 OR PHYS 2220	Required*	-	Required	Required
Mathematics two Semesters	-	-	-	-	-
Course 1 Calculus (most common) OR Statistics	One of: MATH 2010, 2310 OR 2510 OR MATH 2200	Required*	-	Required	Required
Course 2 Calculus (most common) OR Statistics	One of: MATH 2020, 2320 or 2520 OR 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

*Not required in current degree, but will be required beginning fall 2025.

Prepared by Dr. Carl Kloock

If you want to know more about about different pathways to medical school through CSUB programs, view the pre-med advising sheet.