This instructional program fully prepares individuals for admission to a professional school in medicine, including allopathic, osteopathic or podiatric medicine programs. By completing the requirements of the bachelor's of science in biology with the cellular and molecular basis of health and disease emphasis, students will complete all of the minimum prerequisites and the upper level biology electives which are highly recommended by most medical schools.

The courses selected provide a foundation of knowledge in modern cellular and molecular biology, essential for understanding medical science. The curriculum of general education and biology majors courses, combined with the mathematics, chemistry and physics components, provides the background essential to understanding the latest diagnostic and treatment technologies.

General education requirements are the same as for all students seeking a bachelor's degree in biology. Completion of the emphasis requirements will be noted on the UMKC transcript. Through proper planning with a School of Biological Sciences adviser, biology majors can use their electives and general education requirements to complete the healing and humanities minor.

A. Biology course requirements

1. Core courses (17 credit hours)

                                                Hours
BIOLOGY 108       General Biology I                 3
BIOLOGY 108L      General Biology I Laboratory      1
BIOLOGY 109       General Biology II                3
BIOLOGY 109L      General Biology II Laboratory     1
BIOLOGY 202       Cell Biology                      3
BIOLOGY 206       Genetics                          3
LS-BIOC 341       Basic Biochemistry                3

2. Emphasis course requirements (15 credit hours)

                                                Hours
LS-PHYS 316       Principles of Physiology          3
LS-MCRB 313       Microbiology                      3
BIOLOGY 409       Developmental Biology             3
LS-BIOC 430       Molecular Biology and Genetic
                   Engineering                      3LS-MCRB 431 or
LS-MCRB 435       Virology or Immunology            3

3. Laboratory course requirements (minimum of 5 credit hours, must include LS-MCRB 313WL.)

                                                Hours
LS-MCRB 313WL     Lab in Microbiology (WI)          3
Elective (Choose at least 2 credit hours from the following)
BIOLOGY 312WL     Lab in Developmental Biology,
                   Genetics & Cell Biology          3
BIOLOGY 328L or   Lab in Histology and Cellular
BIOLOGY 328WL      Ultrastructure                   3
LS-BIOC 360L or   Lab in Biochemistry and
LS-BIOC 360WL      Molecular Biology                3
LS-ANATO 118L     Introductory Anatomy Lab          2

4. Biology Synthesis requirement (Choose a total of 3 credit hours)

                                                Hours
BIOLOGY 498WI     Critical Analysis of
                   Biological Issues                3
LIFE-SCI 490WI    Senior Seminar                    3
LIFE-SCI 499      Undergraduate Research          1-3
LIFE-SCI 497      Special Topics                  1-3

5. A total of 42 credit hours of biology courses must be completed with grades of C- or better. At least 26 of these must be at the 300- or 400-level. A minimum of 21 credit hours of biology courses must be taken from the School of Biological Sciences.  The Microbiology laboratory course must be writing intensive. The UM Biology GPA must be at least 2.0.

B. Physical sciences and mathematics requirements

All of the following courses are required. A grade of C- or better is required in each course used to fulfill these requirements.

                                                Hours
MATH 216 or MATH 210  Biomath I or Calculus I           4
MATH 226 or MATH 220  Biomath II or Calculus II 
  or STAT 235      or Elementary Statistics       3-4
PHYSICS 210 or  General Physics I or
PHYSICS 240     Physics for Science and
                 Engineering I                     4-5
PHYSICS 220 or  General Physics II or
PHYSICS 250*    Physics for Science and
                 Engineering II                    4-5
CHEM 211        General Chemistry I                  4
CHEM 211L       Experimental General Chemistry I     1
CHEM 212R       General Chemistry II                 4
CHEM 212LR      Experimental General Chemistry II    1
CHEM 321        Organic Chemistry I                  3
CHEM 321L       Organic Chemistry Laboratory I       1
CHEM 322R       Organic Chemistry II                 3
CHEM 322L       Organic Chemistry Laboratory II      1

*Students may choose LIFE-SCI 401, Biophysical Principles (3 credit hours), as an alternative to PHYSICS 250.
A minimum of 120 credit hours is required; and 36 of these must be at the junior/senior level. Electives may be taken from any area once other degree requirements have been met.