Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences 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

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

PNWU's DO programme publishes no shadowing or clinical hours minimum. Ignore the 50-hour shadowing requirement you will find on pnwu.edu, which belongs to its dental school. What the DO programme does require is the letter: "A letter of recommendation is required from each of the following sources: A physician, MD or DO (preferably a DO who is a member of the AOA)," plus a science faculty member and a pre-medical source. Letters "must be written within two years prior to your application." PNWU also points applicants at the Washington Osteopathic Medical Association for shadowing opportunities.

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

PNWU's third required letter is from "a pre-medical source (a pre-medical adviser or committee)", and it is the one with substitutes: a military supervisor or commanding officer in a health profession, a research supervisor, a second science faculty or second physician letter, or a licensed health professional supervisor.

No published minimum

"A science faculty member who has evaluated the applicant's post-secondary science course work (excluding medical/bio ethics and computer engineering courses)." Note the exclusions: an ethics or computer engineering professor does not count.

No published minimum

"A letter of recommendation is required from each of the following sources: a physician, MD or DO (preferably a DO who is a member of the AOA)." Letters "must be written within two years prior to your application." The DO programme publishes no shadowing or clinical hours minimum. Ignore the 50-hour figure elsewhere on pnwu.edu, which belongs to the dental school.

No published minimum

"Preferably a DO who is a member of the AOA": a preference inside a required physician letter, so an MD's letter satisfies the requirement. PNWU points applicants at the Washington Osteopathic Medical Association for shadowing opportunities.

No published minimum

A "research supervisor" letter is one of four accepted substitutes for PNWU's pre-medical source letter.

No published minimum

Two accepted substitutes for the pre-medical source letter sit here: "a military supervisor/commanding officer in health profession" and "a licensed health professional supervisor." PNWU accepts up to three additional letters from employers, researchers, and similar sources, but "these additional letters may not be used to substitute for the three required letters."