Biology: Required Pre-Dental Courses

All prerequisite courses must be taken for a grade (not Pass/No Pass). The courses required for admission to most dental schools are listed below. Consult the web sites or catalogs of the schools to which you plan to apply to determine each school’s specific requirements.

Biology

Most dental schools require at least one year of General Biology with a laboratory.

BIO 206/276 Organismal and Population Biology with Lab 
BIO 207/277 Introductory Cell Biology and Genetics with Lab

Additional recommended courses: Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology, Cell Biology, Genetics
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) requires Human Anatomy and Human Physiology in addition to General Biology

Chemistry

Most dental schools require one year of General Chemistry and one year of Organic Chemistry with accompanying labs. Predental students should begin this course sequence no later than their sophomore year so that they will be prepared to take the DAT at the end of their junior year.

CHM 207-208 General Chemistry
CHM 277-278 or 279 General Chemistry Laboratory

CHM 325-326 Organic Chemistry
CHM 375-376 Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Additional recommended courses: Biochemistry
OHSU requires Biochemistry (with lab highly recommended) in addition to General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry

Physics

Most dental schools require one year of General Physics with a laboratory.

PHY 201-202 General Physics
PHY 271-272 General Physics Laboratory
or
PHY 204-205 General Physics Lecture & Lab 

Mathematics

Most dental schools do not list Math as a requirement for admission, but selected Math courses are prerequisites for the required Physics and Chemistry courses and quantitative reasoning is included on the Dental Admission Test. Precalculus II (MTH 112) is a prerequisite for PHY 201-202, and a 100-level mathematics course is a prerequisite for CHM 207-208. Because some dental schools require a college level Math or Calculus course, predental students are encouraged to take at least one semester of Calculus (MTH 201) and one semester of Statistics (MTH 161).

English

Most dental schools require one year (two semesters) of English, including at least one writing course.  The following courses are highly recommended for pre-dental students.

ENG 112 Introduction to Literature
ENG 107 College Writing or ENG 311 Advanced Writing

Social Sciences and Humanities

Many dental schools require one year (two semesters) of Social Sciences and Humanities. UP Core courses that will fulfill this requirement include:

Humanities

FA 207 Fine Arts
PHL 150 Introductory Philosophy
PHL 220 Ethics
THE 101 Introduction to Religion and Theology
THE 205 Biblical Tradition and Culture

Social Sciences

PSY 101 General Psychology
SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
POL 200 Introduction to United States Politics
ECN 120 Principles of Macroeconomics
CST 100 Communication for Leadership