Course Guide

Required Courses For Medical School

The courses that medical schools require vary, but the majority of U.S. medical schools expect the following set of courses for admission. More detailed guidance on course selection is given below.

Requirement	Kenyon Courses
Introductory Biology and Lab (2 semesters)	BIOL 115, 116 (lectures) plus BIOL 109, 110 (labs)
Introductory Chemistry and Lab (1 or 2 semesters)	CHEM 121, 124 (lectures) plus CHEM 123, 126 (labs) or CHEM 122 (lecture) plus CHEM 123 (lab)
Organic Chemistry and Lab (2 semesters)	CHEM 231, 232 (lecture) plus CHEM 233, 234 (labs)
Biochemistry (1 semester)	CHEM 256 (lecture)
Introductory Physics and Lab (2 semesters)	PHYS 130, 135 (lectures) PHYS 131, 136 (labs)
Mathematics (2 semesters)	MATH 111, MATH 112, or MATH 213 (calculus) MATH 106, MATH 206, or MATH 216 (stats)
English (2 semesters)	ENGL 103, 104

• These requirements are not uniform across all medical schools; some have fewer and some have additional requirements. It is your responsibility to research the admissions requirements for the schools to which you plan to apply (start with your in-state schools). You can find information on their websites and in MSAR® (Medical School Admission Requirements), published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
• Advanced Placement (AP) credit is handled differently at different medical schools. Most often, if you place out of a required course for admission with a high AP Exam score, medical schools will expect that you take an additional upper-level course in that discipline. For example, a student with a Biology AP Exam Score of 5 will be qualified to begin the introductory biology sequence with BIOL 116 rather than BIOL 115. Most medical schools would expect that students take at least one additional upper-level biology lecture course. 
• Most medical schools prefer to see these required courses taken at your undergraduate institution. However, if your schedule prevents completion of one of these courses at Kenyon, you might consider completing it during a summer at another institution. Discuss this option carefully with members of the HPAC, considering (1) the course, (2) the institution, (3) whether or not the summer course will adequately prepare you for the MCAT, and (4) how this course may or may not serve as a pre-requisite for other courses you wish to take at Kenyon (consult departments on this).
• Most medical schools require two semesters of introductory chemistry with lab. Chemical Principles, CHEM 122, with lab (CHEM 123) covers a full year of introductory chemistry in one semester. Most medical schools will accept this accelerated course in combination with a Chemistry AP Exam score of 4 or 5 as meeting the introductory chemistry requirement.

Recommended Courses for Premedical Students

Most medical schools require that applicants take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). The MCAT has four sections: (1) Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, (2) Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, (3) Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior, and (4) Scientific Inquiry and Reasoning Skills. The test is constructed based on competencies in these areas rather than being focused on content that is taught in undergraduate courses. The outcome of this fact is that courses required by medical schools for entrance do not provide a premedical student the opportunity to develop all the competencies needed to thrive on the
MCAT.

In addition to the required courses, HPAC offers the following course recommendations
for MCAT preparation and general preparation for medical school:

1. The Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT
   requires competencies that are developed in psychology and sociology courses. HPAC
   recommends PSYC 100 or PSYC 110 and/or one of the following introductory sociology
   courses to develop these competencies: SOCY 104 - SOCY 108.
2. As medicine is a form of applied biology, advanced coursework in biology is recommended. Completing at least one of the following biology courses will complement required coursework and help premed students prepare for the Scientific Inquiry and Reasoning Skills section of the MCAT: BIOL 238 (Microbiology), BIOL 243 (Animal Physiology), BIOL 255 (Genetic Analysis), BIOL 263 (Molecular Biology and Genomics), BIOL 266 (Cell Biology).

Departmental Recommendations

Biology

One year of introductory biology — lectures BIOL 115 and 116 plus labs BIOL 109-110Y — satisfy minimum requirements for admission to most medical schools. Students with an AP Biology score of 5 or IB score of 6 or 7 are placed directly into BIOL 116. Nearly all premedical students also take additional intermediate or advanced courses germane to the biomedical sciences, choosing one or more from among the following: BIOL 238 (Microbiology), BIOL 243 (Animal Physiology), BIOL 255 (Genetic Analysis), BIOL 263 (Molecular Biology), BIOL 266 (Cell Biology), BIOL 321 (Developmental Biology), BIOL 333 (Environmental Toxicology), BIOL 336 (Integrative Biology of Animals), BIOL 358 (Neurobiology), or BIOL 375 (Virology). Many of these courses have corresponding lab sections.

Chemistry

There are two course sequences that will satisfy the chemistry requirements for pre-medical students. The traditional course sequence includes a full year of introductory chemistry and laboratory (fall: CHEM 121 and 123; spring CHEM 124 and 126) followed by the organic sequence (spring: CHEM 231 and 233, fall: CHEM 232 and 234) and biochemistry (spring: 256). For students with chemistry AP scores of 4 or higher, an accelerated option is available that includes an accelerated, one-semester,
introductory chemistry class (fall: CHEM 122 and 123) followed by organic chemistry (first year spring: CHEM 231 and 232, second year fall: CHEM 232 and 234) and biochemistry (spring: CHEM 256).

Physics

For pre-medical students not majoring in physics, the most appropriate physics sequence to prepare for taking the MCATs is PHYS 130 (lecture) and PHYS 131 (lab), offered each fall, and PHYS 135 (lecture) and PHYS 136 (lab), offered each spring. Note that these labs are co-requisites and must be taken in the same semester as the lecture course. This sequence is not open to first-year students. A first-year premed student interested in taking physics should enroll in PHYS 140 and PHYS 141 in the fall and PHYS 145 and PHYS 146 in the spring.

Mathematics

The mathematics requirement varies for admission to different medical schools. Most require two semesters of college math (calculus and/or statistics). Exposure to both calculus (MATH 111, 112, or 213, depending on your background or AP placement) and statistics (MATH 106, 206, or 216, depending on your background or AP placement) is recommended. However, it is important to check the specific requirements of the schools to which you plan to apply.

English 

The English requirement varies for admission to different medical schools. Most medical schools require two semesters of college English. Many require that these courses be focused on composition rather than literature study. ENGL 103 and 104 are recommended and will meet the entrance requirements for most schools. It is important to check the specific requirements of the schools to which you plan to apply.

Neuroscience

Students interested in neuroscience and pre-health should begin in introductory biology and chemistry courses, as described above. They should take Neuroscience (NEUR 212) when they have that foundation, both to succeed in neuroscience courses and to stay on track for pre-health requirements. While the introductory chemistry labs (CHEM 124 and 126) are not required for the neuroscience major, they are essential for pre-health students. Courses in neuroscience at the 200- and 300-level may be of interest to pre-health students as they span molecular to cognitive fields. Psychology General Psychology (PSYC 110) is a special section of the Introductory Psychology (PSYC 100) course geared toward students preparing for health professions, but not majoring in psychology. The content areas covered are the same in the two courses and both will help students prepare for the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT, however, PSYC 100 is open to first and second year students only while PSYC 110 open only to juniors and seniors.

Sociology 

A number of introductory and intermediate sociology courses will be valuable in preparing students for the MCAT, medical school, and practice. Specifically, introductory courses SOCY 104 – 108 will aid students in preparing for the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT. Any of the introductory courses above would prepare students to enroll in SOCY 224 (Health and Illness) or other 200-level special topics courses on the sociology of medicine as a second course in fulfillment of the social science distribution requirement.

Health and the World

As you think about courses for this semester and beyond, you may want to consider some of the following courses as elective courses toward your diversification, or courses within your majors. You may find these courses to be of some interest, but you do not need to
take any of these courses to gain access to health-professions schools (medical, dental, vet, etc.) Check the Course Catalog to learn when they are offered; not all of these classes are offered each year. Some of these courses have pre-requisites and others do not.

• ANTH 111 Biological Anthropology
• ANTH 320 Anthropology of Food
• ANTH 324 Human Ecology: Biocultural Adaptations
• BIOL 211 Health Service and Biomedical Analysis (includes 4 hours perweek volunteering at Knox County Hospital)
• DANC 322 Dance Kinesiology
• ENGL 104.06 Health and Healing
• HIST 238 The Scientific Revolution and the European Enlightenment, 1600-1800
• HSPS 170 Sports Medicine and Wellness
• HSPS 171 Human and Sport Nutrition
• HSPS 184 Wilderness First Aid
• HSPS 188 Topics in Human Performance
• PHIL 260 Philosophy of Mind and Brain
• PHIl 262 Philosophy of Perception
• PSYC 208 Drugs and Behavior
• PSYC 321 Abnormal Psychology
• PSYC 327 Cross Cultural Psychology
• PSYC 330 Health Psychology
• SOCY 224 Sociology of Health and Illness
• WGS 121 Introduction to Queer Studies

Required Courses for Other Health Professional Schools

The coursework required by different health professional schools varies substantially. The coursework listed here is representative of typical programs in each health profession but it is not practical to show the specific requirements for individual schools and health professions here. To get more detailed information, follow the hyperlinks in the table to access professional associations or look up the requirements for specific schools and programs. Guidance on Kenyon course selection is given below.

Scroll or swipe to view full table.

Requirement	Dentistry	Nurse Practitioner	Optometry	Pharmacy	Physicians Assistant	Physical Therapy	Podiatry	Veterinary Medicine
Intro Bio & Lab (2 sems)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Intro Chem & Lab (2 sems)	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Org Chem & Lab (2 sems)	✔		✔	✔	Some schools		✔	✔
Biochem (1 sem)	Some schools				Some schools			✔
Intro Physics & Lab (2 sems)	✔		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Mathematics	Some schools	Some schools			Most schools	✔		Some schools
Microbio (1 sem)	Some schools	✔	Some schools	Some schools	✔	Some schools		Some schools
Human Anatomy &/or Physiology (2 sems)	Some schools	✔	Some schools	Some schools	✔	✔		Some schools
English (1 or 2 sems)	✔		Some schools	Some schools	Some schools		✔	✔
Other Common Requirements	Adv Bio	Highly variable	Psych, Social Sciences	Econ, Public speaking	Psych	Psych, Social Sciences	Adv Bio	Variable

Key Contacts

• Maureen Tobin, preprofessional advisor, tobinm@kenyon.edu
• Prof. John Hofferberth, HPAC co-chair, hofferberthj@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Kerry Rouhier, HPAC co-chair, rouhierk@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Chris Gillen, HPAC member, gillenc@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Sheryl Hemkin, HPAC member, hemkins@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Peter Kropp, HPAC member, kropp1@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Wade Powell, HPAC member, powellw@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Sarah Petersen, HPAC member, petersens@kenyon.edu
• Prof. Lauren Rudolph, HPAC member, rudolph2@kenyon.edu