PHYSICS AND PREPARING FOR A HEALTH PROFESSION

The Pre-Health Professions Program supports students interested in going on to medical school, veterinary school, dental school, or any other professional school in the medical field.  

Pre-med physics majors should consult carefully with both their physics faculty advisor and with the Pre-Health Professions Advisor, Dr. Mike King, as soon as possible in their first year as completing the requirements for the physics major, the pre-med requirements, and the University general education requirements takes careful planning.

The sequence of classes listed below roughly outlines the physics, mathematics, biology and chemistry classes that a physics major participating in the pre-med/Pre-Health Professions Program can expect to take.

FALL OF FIRST YEAR  
PHYS 141P - University Physics I 1 unit
MATH 141Q - Calculus I with Analytic Geometry 1 unit
CHEM 141P - General Chemistry I 1 unit
FSEM - First Year Seminar 1 unit
   
SPRING OF FIRST YEAR  
PHYS 142P - University Physics II  1 unit
MATH 142Q - Calculus II with Analytic Geometry  1 unit
CHEM 142P - General Chemistry II  1 unit
ENGL 101 (or other appropriate Writing course as indicated by the Writing Placement criteria  1 unit
   
FALL OF SOPHOMORE YEAR   
PHYS 243 - Modern Physics   1 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium   non-credit
MATH 243 - Calculus III with Analytic Geometry   1 unit
CHEM 201 - Organic Chemistry I  1 unit
PSYC 101S - Introduction to Psychology 
or SOCI 101S - Introduction to Sociology
 1 unit
   
SPRING OF SOPHOMORE YEAR   
PHYS 304 - Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences   1 unit
PHYS 332 - Mechanics I  1 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium   non-credit
CHEM 301 - Organic Chemistry II  1 unit
PSYC 101S - Introduction to Psychology 
or SOCI 101S - Introduction to Sociology
1 unit
   
FALL OF JUNIOR YEAR   
PHYS 332 - Electricity & Magnetism   1 unit
PHYS 343 - Quantum Mechanics I   1 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium   non-credit
CHEM 204 - Biochemistry I (note: CHEM 301 is a prerequisite)  1 unit
BIOL 141 - Introduction to Biology I  1 unit
   
SPRING OF JUNIOR YEAR   
PHYS 312 - Laboratory Techniques 1 unit
PHYS 497 - Senior Project Proposal   1/2 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium   non-credit
BIOL 142P - Introduction to Biology II  1 unit
MATH 125Q - Introduction to Mathematical and Statistical Modeling  
JSEM - Junior Seminar   1 unit
   
Note: Students should verify on their degree audit that they have met all their General Education course requirements before considering them completed on this checklist.   
   
FALL OF SENIOR YEAR   
PHYS 498 - Senior Project  1 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium  non-credit
Physics Elective:  PHYS 352 - Optics or PHYS 356 - Electronics  
     or General Education course 
 1 unit
General Education course   1 unit
General Education course   1 unit
   
SPRING OF SENIOR YEAR   
PHYS 499 - Senior Seminar   1 unit
PHYS 380 - Physics Colloquium   non-credit
General Education course   1 unit
General Education course  1 unit
Elective course   1 unit
The elective courses may include either one or more of the following physics courses or other courses:
        PHYS 362 - Thermophysics
        PHYS 412 - Advanced Laboratory Techniques
        PHYS 422 - Mechanics II
        PHYS 432 - Electromagnetic Theory
        PHYS 443 - Quantum Mechanics II