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Prerequisite Requirements



The pre-pharmacy curriculum is similar to other health care professional beginnings, but is specially selected to give the student the best possible background to pharmacy.

Pre-pharmacy requirements may be taken at any regionally-accredited college or university and must be completed prior to matriculation into Belmont University College of Pharmacy. All prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of "C" (2.0) or better or credited by receiving Advanced Placement (AP) high school credit.  Possible exemptions will be decided by the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in consultation with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the University Registrar.

Applicants are encouraged to work closely with their undergraduate academic advisor and map out their course of study accordingly. Although our staff are happy to discuss specific prerequisites with applicants, they are unable to provide definitive counsel until all official transcripts have been processed by PharmCAS.

Pre-pharmacy course requirements necessitate at least two academic years study for completion:

Prerequisite Courses
 Semester Credit Hours*

English Composition - One semester.

 3

Literature - One semester.  English and American literature satisfy this requirement, as do literature courses based on other cultures (such as French, African, classical, world, and continental) or specific modalities (such as poetry).

 3

Writing Emphasis - One semester of a "writing emphasis" course such as English Composition II or any other writing courses denoted as such by a "W" (i.e. BIO W ) on a transcript is required.

 3

Economics - A one semester course focused on general or health economics.

 3

Public Speaking - A one semester course focused on developing student skills in presenting oral assignments to multiple audiences.
PLEASE NOTE: A general communication course does not meet the requirements for this prerequisite. The course must include 3 to 5 major individual speech presentations with most of the course grade from these presentations.  A course syllabus may be required to confirm course content if the course is not titled as Public Speaking.

 3

Social Sciences - Three semesters.  These may include courses from psychology, sociology, history, political science, and communication.

 9

Biology with laboratory - Two courses such as general biology, microbiology, botany, zoology, genetics, and A&P.  Must include labs.

 8

Physics with laboratory - A one semester course, either algebra- or calculus-based.  Must include a lab.

 4

General (Inorganic) Chemistry - Two semesters.  Each of these courses must be a standard college-level course for science majors with a lab.  General chemistry concepts include atomic structure, molecular structure and bonding, chemical reactions, periodic properties of the elements, thermochemistry, properties of gases, solid and liquid states of matter, chemistry of acids and bases, principles of chemical kinetics, precipitation reactions, elementary thermodynamics, electrochemistry, and nuclear chemistry.

Note: In quarter-based institutions, this sequence is three courses.

 8

Organic Chemistry - Two semesters.  Each of these courses must be a standard college-level course for science majors with a lab utilizing full laboratory facilities. Organic chemistry concepts include types of carbon compounds, stereochemistry, substitution reactions, carbon compounds properties, aromatics, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and amines.

Note: In quarter-based institutions, this sequence is three courses.

 8

Calculus - A one semester course providing an introduction to analytical geometry, limits, integration, and differentiation.

 3

Statistics - A one semester course in probability and statistics.  Topics include descriptive measures, elementary probability distributions, sampling distributions, one and two sample inferences on means and proportions, simple linear regression, and correlation.

PLEASE NOTE:  Business-based statistics will not fulfill this requirement.

 3

Electives - Two courses.

 6
Total:
 64

*These prerequisites are based on semester hours.  Courses taken in quarter-based systems will be calculated at semester hour equivalents. In cases where quarter hours fall below the semester hours indicated, the school reserves the right to require additional coursework in the topic area to meet the minimum stated prerequisite.

Credit granted by your university through the Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board may be used to meet prerequisites if the standards set by Belmont University are met.  These standards can be found in the Advanced Placement section of the catalog.

For students completing prerequisites at Belmont University, course equivalencies are listed at the Pre-Pharmacy Curriculum for Belmont Students.

College of Pharmacy
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