Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program
Overview
The Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program is designed to meet the needs of college graduates who have decided to pursue a medical education but who lack some or all of the basic science courses required for admission to medical school. The program provides rigorous education in all areas of the premedical sciences that are required for admission to any medical, osteopathic, dentistry, or optometry school in the country.
Curriculum Requirements
Students sufficiently prepared in mathematics and English who enter the program in the Fall semester can expect to complete the program in two years. The third year is known as the "glide year". This is the year between completing the program and entering medical school. For most students, the glide year provides the opportunity to take additional highly recommended courses or to deepen their exposure to medicine through full-time employment in a clinical setting or in a medical research laboratory. In order to be eligible for admission to medical school and, subsequently, to be licensed to practice medicine, students must complete the following seven courses in the arts and sciences:
- One Year of College English, including a significant amount of expository writing
- One Year of College Mathematics, beyond pre-calculus, including at least one term of calculus; statistics is recommended as the second mathematics course
- One Year of General Physics, including laboratory
- One Year of General Chemistry, including laboratory
- One Year of Organic Chemistry, including laboratory
- One Year of Biology, including laboratory
Premedical Advising and Support
On the Main Campus of Illinois Institute of Technology, there are a number of advisors who together constitute the Premedical Advisory Committee. Dr. Kathryn Spink, Senior Lecturer of Biology and Chief Health Professions Advisor, is chair of this committee. Post-baccalaureate premedical students will be assigned an advisor who will be available to counsel them as they plan their program of study and as they prepare their applications to medical school.
A number of academic support services will be made available to students in the Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program. In the university's Academic Resource Center, students can meet with tutors at no expense for additional help in their premedical courses. In the Premedical Office, support staff will collect and send letters of recommendation to medical schools. Each year, the Premedical Office and the Honors Medical Society host a number of events specifically for premedical students, including special seminars of medical interest and forums in which current students can learn from the experiences of those who have already taken the MCAT or been admitted to medical school. Post-baccalaureate Premedical students are invited and encouraged to attend weekly colloquia in the biological, chemical and physical sciences and in other departments offering seminars of medical interest.
Finally, IIT's location in the city of Chicago is a special advantage to students in the Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program. The city is home to six medical schools and numerous hospitals and medical research centers. It is also home to the American Medical Association. This concentration of medical practice will provide IIT Post-baccalaureate Premedical students with a wide variety of opportunities to gain experience in both clinical settings and medical research through volunteer service and paid employment.
Academic Standards
Medical schools expect successful applicants to possess excellent grounding in the premedical sciences. The quality of a student's preparation is measured by the grades earned in premedical courses. For this reason, IIT Post-baccalaureate Premedical students will be held to high academic standards. At a minimum, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to remain in the program. However, competitive applicants should maintain a GPA of 3.5 or above. Likewise, medical schools have high expectations about an applicant's character.
Students in the IIT Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program are expected to conduct themselves with honesty and integrity, inspiring confidence in their abilities to assume the responsibilities of medical practice. Students in the Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program are subject to the academic and disciplinary standards detailed in the Illinois Institute of Technology Student Handbook.
Admissions Eligibility
The student must hold the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Science from an accredited college or university in the United States or an equivalent degree from an institution outside the United States. At a minimum, successful applicants must possess a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0. In most cases, students will not be eligible for admission if they have applied to medical school previously or have completed their premedical preparation elsewhere within the last five years. This is not a remedial program. Students must submit a complete application package to the undergraduate admissions office for full consideration.
Sample Curriculum
To view a sample curriculum for Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program, please click here.
