Baptist Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. The single most universal prerequisite: essentially every MD and DO program asks for it, and it is the foundation the MCAT assumes.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. Take it early: organic chemistry, biochemistry, and most upper-division biology all sit behind it, so a late start pushes the whole sequence past your MCAT date.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab at most schools. A meaningful and growing minority accept one semester of organic plus one of biochemistry. Do not drop the second semester on that assumption until you have checked the schools you actually want.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester, lab rarely required. Roughly two thirds of schools require it outright and the MCAT tests it heavily, so treat it as required even where it technically is not, and take it before you sit the exam.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. Algebra-based is accepted almost everywhere; take the calculus-based sequence only if your major needs it or a target school names it.

2 semesters · 6 credits

Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework. Many schools accept writing-intensive courses from any department, but a few name English specifically. If your writing credits come from elsewhere, confirm before you count them.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Most schools with a math requirement accept statistics or calculus; statistics is the more widely accepted of the two and the more useful for reading clinical research, so the baseline tracks it here. If a target school names calculus, its own requirements will say so.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Required outright at a minority of schools (several of them highly selective) and accepted in place of statistics at most of the rest. Take it if calculus is already in your major's path.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. A minority of schools require it, but a quarter of the MCAT is psychological and social foundations: this is the cheapest points on the exam.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Same reasoning as psychology: required by fewer schools, tested directly on the MCAT.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Required by a small number of schools and a common way to fill the upper-division science coursework that strengthens a science GPA.

150+ hours

BUCOM sets no hours. The requirement hides in the letters: if you do not have a pre-health committee letter you must submit three individual letters, and one of them is 'one supervisor letter summarizing work, service, research, or clinical experience'. Any of those four categories satisfies it, so a research PI or a service supervisor works as well as a clinical one.

50+ hours

'A letter from a non-family member DO/MD is strongly recommended': strongly recommended rather than required, and either degree is accepted. No shadowing hours are published.

150+ hours

Service with no medical angle. Committees are reading for a habit, not a total, so one commitment held for two years beats five one-off events.

100+ hours

Effectively expected at research-heavy MD programs and genuinely optional at many DO and community-focused schools. If research is not your path, put those hours into clinical work and say so clearly rather than padding a semester in a lab.

No published minimum

"A pre-health committee/composite letter; or, three individual letters." The committee letter replaces all three individual letters on its own.

2 letters

In the three-letter route: "two individual letters by ranked faculty members (at least one from science) who taught the applicant." Only one of the two must be a science professor; the other faculty letter may come from any discipline, so long as the writer is ranked faculty who taught you.

No published minimum

"A letter from a non-family member DO/MD is strongly recommended." Strongly recommended rather than required, either degree accepted, and BUCOM states no preference between DO and MD.

No published minimum

In the three-letter route: "one supervisor letter summarizing work, service, research, or clinical experience." Any of those four categories satisfies it (a research PI or a service supervisor works as well as a clinical one), but someone must have supervised you, which shadowing does not produce.