Students interested in preparing to enter a health professions school including dentistry, medicine, optometry, osteopathy, podiatry, and veterinary medicine are not required to major in biology or chemistry or in a science. Most health professions schools do not require that applicants complete an undergraduate degree but many prefer that they do so.

The information below is only an overview of pre-health professions requirements. Students interested in enrolling in a health professions school, except Pharmacy, should express this intention to and consult with the University Premedical Advisor at the student's first Xavier registration. Those interested in Pharmacy should contact Xavier University’s College of Pharmacy.

Basic Requirements : All health professions schools require one year of:

• general biology
• general chemistry
• organic chemistry
• general physics
• college mathematics
• English composition at the college level.

Students should be aware that the laboratory science requirements may not be satisfied by Advanced Placement from high school; they must be completed at a college. In addition, they must be completed atleast twelve months before the anticipated date of entry into a health professions school so that the student can take the MCAT, DAT, or other required standardized admission exam.

Although calculus may be required for some degrees at Xavier, it is generally not required for admission into health professions school.

Some health professions schools also require one or more advanced courses in science, one or more courses in the social sciences, or specialized courses such as zoology (for veterinary school) or optics (for optometry). Consult specific catalogs

Additional Courses Recommended : It is strongly recommended that students interested in medicine or dentistry take at least three of the following advanced courses while at XU:

• Biochemistry
• Comparative Anatomy with laboratory
• Embryology with laboratory
• Histology with laboratory
• Physiology

Recommended Scheduling of Science Courses : The departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology have special degree programs for students interested in the health professions. Students in those departments should follow their department's program of study designated as "Premedical" or "Preprofessional." Please note that students in the program get a degree in the subject area, i.e., in Biology, Chemistry, or Psychology, not in “PreMed.”

Students interested in medicine or dentistry in departments other than Biology, Chemistry, or Psychology should follow the schedule of courses below. Students in most majors at Xavier can follow the schedule by choosing a chemistry minor (general, organic, and biochemistry), using free electives and natural science Core Curriculum requirements for the other science courses, and making slight adjustments in the scheduling of courses in existing degree programs.

Pre-Medicine/Pre-Dentistry Schedule Freshman Year
Semester Hours
1st Semester		2nd Semester
Chemistry 1010/1010D/1011L -
Chemistry 1020/1020D/1021L	4	4	General Chemistry I – II
Mathematics 1030 or 1020 and
Mathematics 1070 or 1070H	3(4)	4	Precalculus or Statistics and Calculus I

Sophomore Year

Chemistry 2210/2210D/2230L -
Chemistry 2220/2220D/2240L	4		4	Organic Chemistry I - II
Biology 1230/1230L -
Biology 1240/1240L	4		4	General Biology I-II

Junior Year

Physics 2010/2010L -
Physics 2020/2021L	4		4	General Physics I-II
Biology 3350	3			Physiology
Chemistry 4130			3	Biochemistry

Senior Year

Biology 4110/4110L	4			Histology
Biology 4090/4090L			4	Comparative Anatomy

Accelerated Pre-Health Professions Curricula

Superior students interested in a health professions career may shorten by one year the total time required to complete both the bachelor’s degree and the professional degree by participating in approved 3+1 programs. These programs are currently offered by the departments of Biology and Chemistry. In a 3 +1 plan, the student completes three years at Xavier and spends his or her senior year at a professional school. After successfully completing 28-31 semester hours at the professional school, the student transfers these credits to Xavier and receives the bachelor’s degree. Thus, after four years, the student will have completed all the requirements for graduation from Xavier and have successfully finished the first year of medical, dental, etc. school.

The accelerated programs do not assure a student's acceptance into the professional school. Admission to the professional school is the responsibility of the student. The student who is interested in an accelerated pre-health program should express this intention to his/her academic advisor at his or her first registration at Xavier.

Xavier-Tulane Premedical Early Acceptance Program

This program offers the opportunity for Xavier students to gain acceptance into the Tulane University School of Medicine during their junior year of undergraduate work. Students apply for the program during the second semester of their sophomore year. Applications are reviewed by a committee of Xavier faculty who choose a maximum of five nominees to be forwarded to Tulane. Selection will be based on grade point averages after the completion of prerequisite courses as described in the Tulane catalog and on personal characteristics. Nominees will be invited to Tulane's School of Medicine for interviews during the fall of their junior year. Those who are successful will be notified of their admission into the Early Acceptance Program by November 15 of the nomination year.

Those students admitted in the Early Acceptance Program will be expected to complete their undergraduate education at Xavier University prior to matriculation into Tulane and to maintain satisfactory academic and behavioral progress. Accepted nominees will still be required to submit, by December 15 of their senior year of undergraduate study, an AMCAS application, a Tulane Addendum, and an updated letter of evaluation from Xavier. However, Tulane University will waive the fee normally required with submission of the Tulane Addendum. Students accepted into the Early Acceptance Program may still apply to other schools of choice; they are not obligated to attend Tulane University School of Medicine.