Required Pre-Med Courses
Here is a comprehensive list of all of the required courses you have to take during undergrad.
Information provided by USC Pre-Health Office.
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BISC 120L & BISC 220L or BISC 121L & BISC 221L
2 semesters (8 units)
Most pre-med students will take BISC 120L/220L. You take BISC 121L/221L if you are enrolled in the Freshman Science Honors (FSH) pathway.
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CHEM 105aL & CHEM 105bL or CHEM 107L & CHEM 108L or
CHEM 115aL & CHEM 115bL2 semesters (8 units)
Most pre-med students will take CHEM 105a/b. If you are enrolled in FSH, you will take CHEM 115a/b. If you are a chemistry major, you will take CHEM 107/108.
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CHEM 322aL & CHEM 322bL or CHEM 325aL & CHEM 325bL
2 semesters (8 units)
Most pre-med students will take CHEM 322a/b. If you are a chemistry major, you will take CHEM 325a/b.
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PHYS 135aL & PHYS 135bL or PHYS 151L & PHYS 152L
2 semesters (8 units)
Most pre-med students will take PHYS 135a/b. If you are some kind of engineering or physics major, you will likely take PHYS 151/152 instead.
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MATH 208x or QBIO 305g or HP 340Lg or PSYC 274g or BUAD 310g
1 semester (4 units)
All of the statistics courses will be equivalent. The one you decide to take likely depends on your major or what you would like to apply it towards. The majority of students will take QBIO 305 or PSYC 274.
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MATH 125 or MATH 126 or MATH 118
1 semester (4 units)
Calculus is not required by some medical schools, however, others do require it, so it is recommended to take it during undergrad. Majority of people will take MATH 125. If you are a BUAD major, you can simply take MATH 118.
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WRIT 150 and WRIT 340
2 semesters (8 units)
Both courses are required to be taken during undergrad, both by USC and medical school. WRIT 150 is usually taken in your freshman year, while WRIT 340 is usually taken in your junior year.
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BISC 330L or CHEM 350 (Fa) or BISC 312 (Sp)
1 semester (4 units)
Your course selection depends on your major. Sciences majors will take BISC 330, while non-science majors can decide between CHEM 350 and BISC 312.
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PSYC 100Lg and SOCI 200 or SOCI 210 or SOCI 242
2 semesters (8 units)
Neither psychology nor sociology is required by many schools, but they are both highly recommended to take in preparation for the MCAT.
Additional Courses
These courses, though not required to apply for medical school, are often recommended by current medical students as additional courses to take in undergrad to help give you a good base and make the, already difficult, medical school classes just a little bit easier!
BISC 325
Genetics
Genetics is extremely complicated, but learning just a little bit about it before entering medical school, where it comes back “big time,” can help a lot.
BISC 450
Microbiology/Immunology
Microbio and immunology is hard regardless of when you take it, undergrad or during medical school, but getting a first pass at the course can help make it a little more digestable.
MEDS 520
Medical Spanish for the Health Professions
BISC 320
Molecular Biology
HBIO 301
Anatomy
Anatomy is rote memorization. Learning some of the basics in undergrad can help a lot, and give you a leg up, when repeating those same courses in medical school (the content doesn’t change!).
OT 220
Medical Terminology
This course, though not required by medical schools, can often serve to offer a good baseline into medical terminology and names that can then be applied easily to clinical settings.
HBIO 420
Physiology
Though BISC 220 gives a very introductory base into physiology, there is so much more to learn beyond that. The same processes you learn in these undergraduate physiology courses will show up in medical school, over and over again.
BISC 372
Cell Biology
Though BISC 120/220 go over cell bio in brief, this course will allow you an even better grasp on the subject to help prepare you for medical school.
BISC 438
Nutritional Biochemistry
This course focuses on metabolic processes beyond the general biochemistry learned in BISC 330. This additional course goes one step further and can be extremely helpful in medical school.
Course Scheduling
Though there are a lot of courses to schedule over your four years (or potentially less) at USC, the Pre-Health Office has created potential course plans to lighten the scheduling load and worry you may have felt!