Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Eight hours of biological science. Nova counts biology with laboratory, embryology, genetics, microbiology, and physiology toward this block, so upper-division work fills it as well as the introductory sequence does.

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

Six hours of English and humanities combined, of which at least three must be English. The other three can come from the humanities.

Nova's prerequisite blocks are biological science, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and English and humanities. No mathematics or statistics requirement appears among them.

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

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

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 preprofessional committee letter is KPCOM's preferred academic route: "if a preprofessional committee does not exist, three letters of evaluation are necessary (two from science professors and one from a nonscience professor)." Applicants "out of school for at least two years" should "contact a D.O. admissions counselor."

2 letters

Without a preprofessional committee letter, KPCOM requires "two from science professors" as part of the three academic letters of evaluation.

No published minimum

Without a preprofessional committee letter, KPCOM requires "one from a nonscience professor" alongside the two science professor letters.

No published minimum

NSU-KPCOM's summary of its letters requirement is "one physician and one curriculum letter OR two science professor, one non-science professor, and one physician letter". The physician letter is required either way. It must be "a letter of recommendation from a physician (D.O. or M.D.)", "signed on official letterhead and submitted directly through the AACOMAS portal." Either degree is accepted.