HOW DO I BECOME A PRE-MEDICAL, PRE-DENTAL OR PRE-VETERINARY MEDICINE STUDENT AT UTOLEDO?
Pre-medicine, pre-dental and pre-veterinary medicine are career tracks. They are not undergraduate majors at UToledo. You must choose a major after declaring a concentration.
Your next steps:
- Fill out the admission application.
- Choose a major. It's called "an academic area of interest" on the app. You may use either the UToledo app or the Common App.
- Choose one of the following.
To learn more about the resources we offer to students pursing careers in medical, dental and veterinarian medicine, visit our Pre-Health Advising Center.
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HOW CAN A UTOLEDO DEGREE HELP ME GET INTO THE MEDICAL, DENTAL OR VETERINARY MEDICINE PROGRAM OF MY CHOICE?
UToledo is a large, public research university in Ohio with the resources to support you. We can help you acquire the academic and extra-curricular credentials that professional schools are looking for.
- Academics. Learn from renowned, award-winning faculty who are expert researchers and teachers.
- Leadership and community service.
- More than 400 student organizations promote leadership skills and provide volunteer opportunities on campus and in the community.
- Alpha Epsilon Delta is our highly active national honor society for pre-health professions.
- Health-related experience. It's a huge advantage to get your bachelor's degree at an institution, like The University
of Toledo, that has a medical school.
- Undergraduates can shadow physicians at The University of Toledo Medical Center and dentists at the dental clinic. They can volunteer in the medical center's patient advocate assistant program and experience direct patient care.
- Some undergrad classes are taught at the medical school by medical school faculty.
- Communication and interpersonal skills. Our focus on experiential and project-based learning fosters communication and people skills.
- Research skills. We have an Office of Undergraduate Research that encourages and supports research as early as freshman year.
- The Health Professions Living Learning Community. Live with peers who have similar career goals. Participate in special health-related programming.
- You are eligible for special scholarships.
I'M ACCEPTED. NOW WHAT?
- You must fulfill specific course requirements.
- Biology
- General chemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics
- These courses may be the same as your major's course requirements. It depends on your major.
- All professional schools require a strong foundation in science. As an undergraduate, you will take one year (two semesters) of:
ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO MEDICAL AND DENTAL SCHOOL
BACC2MD PATHWAY PROGRAM
- The BACC2MD program develops highly competitive candidates for UToledo's MD program.
- Talented high school students committed to pursuing a medical education apply to the BACC2MD pathway directly from high school.
Once admitted to UToledo, students will:
- follow their normal pre-med academic plan
- take the MCAT during their junior year
- apply to medical school during the summer between their junior and senior year via the Early Assurance Pathway.
Students with at least a 3.7 higher education GPA (all college course work considered, not just UToledo), as well as a score in the 65th percentile or greater on the MCAT are guaranteed an interview with The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences Medical School.
The Early Assurance Pathway allows students to receive first interviews and decisions by Oct. 1 of that year.
Visit the BACC2MD page for admission requirements and information on how to apply.
UTOLEDO/CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY'S SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE PROGRAM
Earn a bachelor's degree and a dental degree (DMD) in seven years.
- Receive direct acceptance from high school into the pre-professional program with conditional acceptance to dental school.
- Complete undergraduate work at UToledo in three years.
- Enter Case Western Reserve in Cleveland for dental school in your fourth year as long as you fulfill the requirements.
Visit the UToledo/Case Western program page for admission requirements and information on how to apply.
WHAT ARE THE BEST PRE-MEDICAL, PRE-DENTAL AND PRE-VETERINARY MEDICINE MAJORS?
Science-related majors. Most UToledo pre-health students choose majors such as chemistry or biology. This allows them to fulfill both their major's course requirements and the requirements of the pre-health concentration without taking extra classes.
But any major — even non-science ones — can work. It may take extra time — sometimes as much as a year — to complete your pre-health course requirements if you aren't a science major.
UTOLEDO UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES WITH PRE-HEALTH CONCENTRATIONS:
Biology, Department of Biological Sciences
Degree: Bachelor of Science
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- The traditional major for students interested in medical, veterinary, dental and PA school
- MCAT preparation (the medical school entrance exam)
- 3 out of 4 UToledo biological sciences graduates with GPAs of 3.5 or higher have been accepted into medical school over the past 10 years.
Bioengineering (5-Year Program)
Degree: Bachelor of Science
College of Engineering
- Offers a pre-med concentration
- The technical education and research skills that medical schools desire
- Courses that prepare you for the MCAT exam (required for entrance to medical school) and medical school
- An accelerated pre-med program. Highly qualified pre-med students who enter the program directly from high school can complete a BS in four years instead of five. Pre-med students must have at least a 3.9 GPA during their first semester and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.8 through the end of their second year to qualify.
- Bioengineering graduates are accepted into medical school at higher rates than students who major in the physical sciences.
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Degree: Bachelor of Science
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Two of UToledo's five bachelor's degree programs in pharmaceutical sciences — medicinal and biological chemistry and pharmacology/toxicology — are rigorous majors that provide excellent preparation for professional schools.
- An edge on the competition. Classes like pharmacology — how drugs act in the body — aren't part of a typical pre-medicine program. They can help your application to med school or professional school stand out.
- Classes on the latest topics in medical care, including personalized medicine (tailoring drug therapies to each patient)
- Research opportunities with world-renowned faculty members, who may write you letters of recommendation that enhance your application to medical school
- The chance to learn and practice medical school interview skills in our yearlong professional development institute
Exercise Science
Degree: Bachelor of Science
College of Health and Human Services
The BS program offers two health-related concentrations. The pre-professional course requirements are built into the program's curriculum — no extra classes required.
Learn to prevent disease as well as cure and rehabilitate patients. These are great skills for aspiring physicians, especially those who want to specialize in sports medicine or orthopaedics.
- Pre-medical professions
- One sequence of required courses for students interested in medical school
- One sequence of classes for those interested in a physician assistant program
- Pre-rehabilitation sciences — for students interested in athletic training, occupational therapy or physical therapy graduate programs
Public Health
Degree: Bachelor of Science
College of Health and Human Services
- Offers a pre-medical track
- Rigorous, basic science courses and a solid foundation in public health
- A background in global and community health that helps you learn to prevent disease as well as treat it
- A side of medicine that many pre-med students don't see. Work with and learn from professionals in areas such as healthcare policy and substance abuse. This broader understanding of health will help you as a physician.