Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences:
Pre-Professional Option

This option is designed for students who plan to continue their education in graduate school or in a professional school leading to one of the following careers:

• Chiropractor
• Dentist
• Occupational Therapist
• Optometrist
• Pharmacist
• Physical Therapist
• Physician, Allopathic (M.D.) or Osteopathic (D.O.)
• Physician Assistant
• Podiatrist
• Veterinarian

To earn a Bachelor of Sciences in Biomedical Sciences, all students must complete the General University Requirements for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Biomedical Sciences Core Requirements. Professional school requirements differ, so students should consult with their Faculty Mentor and Academic Advisor to determine which courses to select to satisfy the University Core requirement choices.

In addition, students will complete at least 49 semester credit hours of course work in the Pre-Professional Option. Two semester credit hours are from a required course; the other 47 hours are electives (listed below). The current Undergraduate Catalog contains a description of the Biomedical Sciences Program and a list of Biomedical Sciences Course Descriptions. A list of required courses and electives is also found in the Sample Schedule for each career (available by selecting the appropriate career in the list above). A student (in consultation with his or her Faculty Mentor and Academic Advisor) selects appropriate electives to personalize the Blank Pre-Professional Degree Plan.

A useful resource at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is the Office of Pre-Professional Education and Special Programs. This office serves as a central clearinghouse that collects and processes information of interest to pre-professional students. It then distributes the information to faculty, staff, and students in all programs at A&M-Corpus Christi that serve pre-professional students. Its web site contains information about pre-professional careers, professional development and research opportunities, and also maintains active links to professional school web sites, entrance examination web sites, national organization web sites, and a variety of other web sites of interest to pre-professional students and their mentors and advisors.

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Important Note: Laboratory Safety Seminar (SMTE 0091) is a co-requisite course for all courses in the Department of Life Sciences that have a laboratory component.

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Pre-Professional Option—Required Courses (2 SCH):

Course #	Course Title	SCH
BIMS 2200	Professional Skills	2
BIOL 4085	Major Field Test in Biology	0
Mathematics Choice (choose one; hours included in University Core)		(4)
MATH 1442	Statistics for Life
MATH 2413	Calculus I

Students in this option must take a Major Field Test in Biology during their senior year, prior to graduation. In addition, standardized tests (usually taken in the spring of the junior year) are a component of the application process for most graduate or professional schools. Students should take basic science courses such as BIMS 3403, BIMS 4406, BIOL 3425, BIOL 3430, CHEM 4401, CHEM 4402, PHYS 1401, and PHYS 1402 before they attempt standardized admissions tests. (Most graduate and professional schools encourage applicants to have a broad background in the basic sciences, and these courses are helpful even if they are not specifically required for admission to a particular career area.)

The flexible degree requirements with many electives in this option accommodate the different professional schools’ diverse entrance requirements. To decide which electives to choose, a student should…

• contact the appropriate professional or graduate school(s) to determine their specific entrance requirements.
• obtain a Sample Schedule for a particular career field (available by selecting the appropriate career in the list above). A different set of sample schedules is available from the Office of Pre-Professional Education and Special Programs.
• consult his or her Faculty Mentor and Academic Advisor who can also provide information about the “other approved electives” which may include non-listed courses in natural sciences (biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, physics), social sciences (psychology, sociology), computer science, health sciences, criminal justice, kinesiology, or business. With approval from the faculty mentor and academic advisor, a student may also count up to 12 semester credit hours of elective courses that are not on this list.

Pre-Professional Option—Elective Courses (choose 47 SCH):

Course #	Course Title	SCH
BIMS 2171	Medical Terminology	1
BIMS 2172*	Introduction to Biomedical Careers*	1
BIMS 3300	Animal Nutrition	3
BIMS 3401	Pathophysiology	4
BIMS 3403	Molecular Biology	4
BIMS 4295	Biomedical Practicum	2
BIMS 4323	Neurobiology	3
BIMS 4327	Introduction to Toxicology	3
BIMS 4330	Biological Basis of Aging	3
BIMS 4333	Medical Entomology	3
BIMS 4334	Human Genetics	3
BIMS 4335	Endocrinology	3
BIMS 4374	Medical Microbiology	3
BIMS 4375	Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis	3
BIMS 4396	Directed Independent Study	1-3
BIMS 4406	Immunology	4
BIMS 4410	Histology	4
BIMS 4590	Selected Topics (with faculty mentor's approval)	1-5
BIOL 3345	Cell Physiology	3
BIOL 3410	Cell Biology	4
BIOL 3425	Functional Anatomy	4
BIOL 3430	Physiology	4
BIOL 4301	Embryology	3
BIOL 4304	Biology of the Viruses	3
BIOL 4340	Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics	3
BIOL 4350	Research and Design	1-3
BIOL 4407	Biology of the Fungi	4
BIOL 4408	Microbial Diversity and Ecology	4
BIOL 4433	Parasitology	4
BIOL 4435	Biological Microtechniques	4
CHEM 4320	Drugs, Toxins, and Natural Products Chemistry	3
CHEM 4401	Biochemistry I	4
CHEM 4402	Biochemistry II	4
MATH 2413	Calculus I (if not counted in the University Core)	4
MATH 3342	Applied Probability and Statistics (unless student has credit for MATH 1442)	3
PHYS 1401**	General Physics I**	4
PHYS 1402**	General Physics II**	4
	Up to 12 SCH of unlisted electives (with faculty mentor's approval)

*BIMS 2172 allows students to explore the career fields in the biomedical sciences, and is limited to freshman or sophomore students.
**Or PHYS 2425-2426 (University Physics I-II).