College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Coloardo Denver

Pre-Osteopathic Information

The Pre-Osteopathic medicine program helps prepare you to apply for admission to a college of osteopathic medicine. The osteopathic training requires four years and results in a D.O. degree. Osteopathic medicine is concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human illnesses, disease, and injury. The Doctor of Osteopathy, D.O., is a fully trained physician who prescribes drugs, performs surgery, and uses all scientifically accepted methods of keeping people healthy and making sick people well. Osteopathic medicine places an emphasis on consideration of the whole person in providing medical treatment. Although the majority of D.O.'s practice family medicine, D.O.'s are members of every specialty of medical practice along with M.D.'s.

A minimum of three years of undergraduate work is required; most successful applicants have a B.A. or B.S. degree. Most students major in the sciences, but many successful applicants have majored in non-science disciplines. There are no colleges of osteopathic medicine in Colorado, although there are colleges in other states.

Your academic program must satisfy, simultaneously, three sets of requirements:

  1. those set by the college,
  2. those set by the department in which you are majoring, and
  3. those set by the individual medical schools.

This advising page deals with these latter requirements. You must meet the requirements in effect when you enter medical school. For the other requirements, consult the schedule of courses and your major department.

Pre-requisite Courses

The following lists the minimum science requirements for most Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. However, you need to consult with the individual schools of your choice to obtain information regarding additional admission requirements. A good source for this is The Education of the Osteopathic Physician which can be obtained from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, 6110 Executive Blvd., suite 405, Rockville MD 20852.

General Biology (Biol. 2051, 2061, 2071, and 2081)

1 Year

General Chemistry (Chem. 2031, 2038, 2061, and 2068)

1 Year

Organic Chemistry (Chem. 3411, 3418, 3421, and 3428)

1 Year

College Physics (Phys 2010, 2020, 2030, and 2040)

1 Year

English Composition

1 Year

Behavioral Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, or Cultural Anthropology)

1 Year

You should meet these requirements as you meet the college and the major requirements. You are encouraged to explore the arts, humanities, and social sciences in order to broaden your educational experience; once you are in medical school you will not have the time to do such exploring. Since medicine is a mixture of science and contact with people, experiences in social and behavioral sciences, the arts, and the humanities will be of great value to you. you must, of course demonstrate competence in the required science courses.

MEDICAL COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TEST (MCAT)

The MCAT is administered in April and August of each year. You should plan on taking it the spring of your junior year (a year in advance of the fall in which you expect to matriculate in a medical school); some colleges will accept the April administration of the year in which you expect to enter. The test is described in The MCAT Student Manual which is available in the bookstore or can be ordered from the American Association of Medical Schools. The MCAT is composed of four sections: Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Writing Sample.

APPLICATION

Most of the colleges of Osteopathic Medicine participate in AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service). The application deadline for most schools is February 1 of the year you expect to matriculate.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

All medical schools require letters of recommendation from faculty members. This means that you should make certain that the faculty members get to know you. If they do not know you, they will not be able to write a letter that will be helpful. Many, if not most, schools prefer a committee letter over individual letters. The University of Colorado at Denver Health Careers Committee will write this letter of recommendation if you prefer. For this letter, you will need to obtain an application from Dr. Charles A. Ferguson in NC 3014B,

EXPERIENCE

Medical schools expect that you will have had some clinical experience. This experience can be either volunteer or paid; the medical schools do not care which. Many premed students volunteer, for a minimum of three hours per week in hospital emergency rooms, or outlying clinics. At least some of your time should be spent with an osteopathic physician. you may be able to get academic credit while you are gaining this experience; check with the Center for Internships and Cooperative Education at 556-2892.

Schools of Osteopathic Medicine

Here is as comprehensive a list of Osteopathic schools as possible as of the time this page was revised. I have included addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses where possible.