Combined Microbiology major/Premedical Studies co-major
A degree in Microbiology can be an excellent stepping stone to medical school; the requirements for a major in Microbiology include virtually all of the requirements for Medical, Dental and Veterinary School, and cover most of the required courses in the Premedical Studies Co-major. In fact, the majors in Microbiology provide an unsurpassed opportunity for completing the Co-major in Premedical Studies with a minimum of additional courses. A comparison of required Premedical Studies courses with the corresponding required courses in Microbiology is tabulated below.
PMD / MBI course correspondence
Comparison of Premedical Studies co-major requirements with MBI degree requirements
Required Courses
| Subject Area | PMD courses* | MBI courses |
|---|---|---|
| Biology† (all of these) |
BIO/MBI 116 | required |
| Biology† (all of these) |
BIO/MBI 115, MBI 201, or BIO 305 | either BIO/MBI 115 or MBI 201 |
| Biology† (all of these) |
BIO/MBI 200-499 | either MBI 201 or MBI 365 |
| General Chemistry | CHM 141/144 and CHM 142/145 | required |
| Organic Chemistry | CHM 241/244 and CHM 242/245; or CHM 251/254 and CHM 252/255 |
required |
| Biochemistry | CHM 432‡ or CHM 332 (for MCAT) | completes CHM 2 thematic sequence |
| English | ENG 111 or equivalent, and a second writing-intensive course in ENG is recommended | satisfies MP Foundation I and MP Advanced Writing |
| Statistics | STA 261; or STA 301, STA 368 or ISA 205 (calculus-based) |
satisfies MBI math requirement § |
| Physics | PHY 171/173 and PHY 172/174; or PHY 181/183 and PHY 182/184 (calculus-based) |
required |
| Psychology | PSY 111 (for MCAT) | satisfies MP Foundation IIC |
| Sociology | SOC 153 ‡ or SOC 151 (for MCAT) | satisfies MP Foundation IIIB or IIC |
| Professional Development I | PMD 101: Explorations in Healthcare | -- |
| Professional Development II | PMD 301: Preparing for a Career in Medicine | -- |
*PMD courses address subjects required by Medical Schools and/or are covered on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).
†Courses labeled as BIO are equivalent to courses labeled as ZOO or BOT.
‡Preferred course.
§The A.B. in Microbiology requires either statistics or calculus; the B.S. requires both.
Elective Courses (strongly recommended - not required for the PMD co-major)
| Subject area | PMD courses | MBI courses |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | One additional course in BIO/MBI | MBI at the 300-level or higher |
| Math (one of these) |
Calculus: MTH 151 or MTH 153 | satisfies MBI math requirement § |
Many of the courses listed above satisfy Miami Plan requirements. In addition, while the Co-major only requires a semester of math (Statistics), many medical schools require a year of math. Therefore, you are strongly advised to take an additional semester of math so that you are not limited in in the medical schools to which you can apply. Moreover, while students in the University Honors Program are not required to take 1 st year English at Miami, this does not release honors students from fulfilling the medical school English requirement.
The Mallory-Wilson Center for Healthcare Education website provides detailed advice for premedical students with the hope of helping Miami students achieve their goal of entering a health profession.
Please send questions and comments to:
Chief Departmental Advisor