Pre-Health Post-Baccalaureate Program

The post-baccalaureate program at Chapman University is recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges. It is designed for students who already possess a bachelor’s degree in an unrelated field of science, who now desire to change their career path toward a pre-healthcare profession. The program offers the student an opportunity to take various courses required of: medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant and nurse practitioner schools/programs. The program is not intended for those seeking to improve their GPA by repeating courses.

admission requirements

All applicants must have graduated from an accredited institution with a bachelor’s degree and a final GPA of 3.200 or above. Students should be ready to take a calculus based physics course by completing at least one semester of calculus. If not, students will be required to complete a pre-calculus course as well as calculus before taking physics. All admitted students will be required to maintain a 3.200 GPA or higher to continue in the program.

typical curriculum requirements

Typical curriculum requirements (e.g. medical school) assuming no previous science courses:

• One year of general biology (BIOL 204  and BIOL 205 ).
• One year of general chemistry (CHEM 140 /CHEM 140L  and CHEM 150 /CHEM 150L ).
• One year of organic chemistry (CHEM 230 /CHEM 230L  and CHEM 331 /CHEM 331L ).
• One semester of biochemistry (BCHM 335 ).
• One year of calculus (MATH 110  and MATH 111 ).
• One year of general physics (PHYS 107  and PHYS 108 ).
• One semester of sociology (SOC 101 ).
• One semester of psychology (PSY 101 ).
• One year of English.

Note-this list will be slightly different for those who wish to pursue programs such as physician assistant, physical therapy, etc.

Students admitted to the program who have already taken one or more of the courses above will have the option of taking recommended upper division courses identified below, up to a maximum of 55 total credits (including the curriculum requirements):

• One semester of human anatomy (BIOL 210 ).
• One year of human physiology (BIOL 365  and BIOL 366 ).
• One semester of biochemistry (BCHM 336 ).
• One semester of microbiology (BIOL 317 ).
• One semester of medicinal chemistry (BCHM 350 ).
• One semester of neurophysiology (BIOL 407 ).
• One semester of immunology (BCHM 337 ). 
• One semester of developmental biology (BIOL 410 ).
• One semester of molecular genetics (BIOL 436 ).
• One semester of cell and molecular biology (BIOL 450 ).