B.S. in Biological Sciences - Pre dental Scholars

The Department of Biological Sciences offers or participates in six different majors, five of which lead to a B.S. degree and one which leads to a B.A. degree. The purpose of all of these degree programs is to provide instruction in the diverse disciplines that make up modern biology. A major emphasis of these degree programs is to familiarize students with the practice of designing, performing and analyzing biological experiments; toward this goal, stand-alone laboratory courses taught by faculty are a central component of the curriculum for each major. The degree programs teach students critical thinking skills and prepare them for a wide variety of careers including medicine, dentistry, research, biotechnology, pharmacy/pharmacology, public health, and environmental and sustainability studies. The major in Biological Sciences (BSCI) provides a comprehensive education in biology, including courses in cell biology, genetics, evolutionary biology, physiology, neurobiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunobiology, ecology, microbiology and plant biology. This major in biological sciences is open to students who were directly admitted to the Pre-dental Scholars Program or students who were accepted into the program after their freshman year. In this program, students complete three years of courses in the College of Arts and Sciences for a minimum of 96-97 credits (depending on courses) by the end of the third year. The fourth year of the program consists of Dental School course requirements, which typically consist of approximately 44 credit hours. The major consists of six required biology courses (17-18 credit hours), one laboratory course (3 credit hours) and the first year Dental School course requirements, as well as eight cognate course requirements (30-31 credit hours) in chemistry, mathematics and physics chosen from the lists below. Certain courses in the first year dental curriculum are counted toward completion of the major in Biological Sciences (BISC 7410 Microbiology, BISC 7514 General Histology, BISC 7515 Biomedical Systems 1, BISC 7516 Biomedical Systems 2 and DEIN 7121 Oral Biology); in addition, other courses (i.e.DEIN 7114 Introduction to Clinical Practice 1 DEIN 7118 Dental Rounds 1, DEIN 7124 Introduction to Clinical Practice 2, DEIN 7128 Dental Rounds 2, DEGD 7113 Dental Anatomy and Occlusion 1, DEGD 7123 Dental Anatomy and Occlusion 2) count toward the total credit hour requirement for the Bachelor of Science degree as well as for dental school requirements. After successful completion of these dental courses a B.S. degree is conferred. Note: Dental curriculum for all dental students is determined by the Dental School and is subject to change. Students must achieve a grade of C or better in those courses in order to count them toward the B.S. completion.