Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University 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.

1 semester · 3 credits

Katz asks for a broad humanities education and strong writing skills alongside the sciences, and names psychology and sociology specifically among its recommendations.

150+ hours

Almost no school publishes a number, but admitted applicants typically report a few hundred hours. 150 is the point where you can speak about patient care from experience rather than in the abstract; sustained hours over years read better than a summer sprint.

50+ hours

Aim for 40-50 across more than one specialty, including primary care. DO programs weigh shadowing more heavily and several ask for hours with a DO specifically. If DO schools are on your list, get those hours and the letter early.

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

Katz's requirements page says research activities "are considered but not required", alongside medical-related experience and community service activities, which it also considers. No hours are published for any of them, so there is no number to hit here: research is a plus at Temple, not a gate. Source: https://medicine.temple.edu/education/md-program/how-apply/requirements

No published minimum

"Katz considers letters of reference from a premedical committee, a packet from a school letter compilation service, or between three and six individual letters. Premedical committee letters do not need a specific number of science/non-science letters."

2 letters

"If submitting a compilation packet or individual letters, we prefer, if possible but do not require, two letters from professors with whom you have completed coursework from the AMCAS course classification of biology, chemistry or physics." Note "do not require": Katz states the preference and then disclaims it.

No published minimum

"One additional letter is preferred from a nonscience professor, work experience or service activity". A nonscience professor is one of three interchangeable ways to fill that slot.

No published minimum

"We welcome letters from research experiences but prefer them in addition to the requested science letters from professors with whom you completed coursework." A research letter supplements the science faculty letters rather than replacing them.