Academic Preparation

Prerequisites for Medical (MD/DO) Schools

  • All requirements should be taken at an accredited college/university in the US or Canada, with grades reported on a US/Canadian transcript. 
  • All requirements must be taken for a grade, not PDF (with some exceptions during the pandemic).
  • Many schools require C or better grades and will not accept a C- to fulfill prerequisites.
  • All requirements should be taken in person, not online (with some exceptions during the pandemic).

Academics Intro

Watch this September 2023 information session to learn about prerequisites, advanced placement, majors, grades, and other academic topics.

Advanced Placement

Individual schools may have different policies regarding credit earned through advanced placement (e.g., AP, IB, A-Levels, departmental examinations). Most schools will accept advanced level courses that supplement advanced placement to satisfy requirements. Generally, expect to take at least one advanced course to supplement advanced placement in each discipline except calculus. We have included specific advice by discipline, as well.

Other Required and Recommended Courses

Some schools have additional prerequisites: research schools of interest to check their prerequisites

  • About 70% of students attend medical school in their home state of residence. We recommend that you fulfill any requirements for your public state schools.
  • Professional schools may list their prerequisites by required credit hours. One Princeton course = four credit hours (each college/university has its own credit hour system).
  • Use the Medical School Admission Requirements, published annually by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to explore admission to various medical schools. Online access is available in our office, or you can purchase your own access directly from the AAMC.

Alternative Introductory Sequences

Health & Medicine Related Courses

Every semester, HPA curates a list of Health-Related & Medically Relevant Courses offered. These courses could broaden your perspective as a future health professional.

Competency-Based Admissions

Some allopathic medical (MD) schools no longer require specific courses; instead, they focus on expectations for your content knowledge and scientific preparation but leave it to the applicant to choose how to meet these expectations. 

See the list (google doc)