General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations | ||
| F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
| Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
| F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
| F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
| F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
| F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
| F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
| F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
| F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 31-37 | |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Degree Requirements
Students must complete WVU General Education Foundations requirements, College B.S. requirements, STEM Foundations requirements, major requirements, and electives with a minimum of 120 hours. For complete details on these requirements, visit the B.S. Degrees tab on the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences page.
Departmental Requirements for the B.S. in
Biology Pre-Medical
Students intending to graduate with a B.S. in Biology Pre-Medical must earn a minimum of 47 hours of coursework in biology or approved courses in the biological sciences, with a minimum of 120 hours total required for graduation.
- Capstone Requirement: The university requires the successful completion of a Biology capstone course (BIOL 320 or BIOL 321 or the research capstone, BIOL 486).
-
Writing and Communication Skills Requirement: The Biology Pre-Medical Bachelor of Science is a SpeakWrite Certified ProgramTM. SpeakWrite Certified programs incorporate and develop students’ written, verbal, visual, and mediated communication skills across the curriculum.
-
Calculation of Major GPA: A minimum GPA of a 2.0 is required in all courses applied to major requirements, with a minimum grade of a C- in BIOL 115, BIOL 115L, BIOL 117, and BIOL 117L. If a course is repeated, all attempts will be included in the calculation of the GPA, unless the course is eligible for a D/F repeat.
-
Area of Emphasis: The B.S. in Biology Pre-Medical offers 2 areas of emphasis: Human Health and Global Health. Each student must complete an area of emphasis.
-
Upper-division laboratory requirement: biology pre-medical majors must complete a minimum of two upper-division BIOL laboratory courses. Those courses are identified with an "L" listed after the course number.
-
Research Option: With permission of the department, students may enroll in BIOL 386, BIOL 484, or BIOL 485. These courses can lead to the research capstone, BIOL 486. Up to 6 credits of research can be used towards biology electives within each track.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| University Requirements | 37 | |
| ECAS B.S. Requirements | 3 | |
| Biology Major Requirements | 80 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
University Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
| Outstanding GEF Requirements 1, 6, and 7 | 12 | |
| BIOL 191 | First-Year Seminar | 1 |
| General Electives | 24 | |
| Total Hours | 37 | |
ECAS Bachelor of Science Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ECAS B.S. Requirements | ||
Global Studies and Diversity Requirement | ||
| MATHEMATICS REQUIREMENT: | 3 | |
| Applied Calculus | ||
or MATH 155 | Calculus 1 | |
| BS Science Requirement is met by Major Requirements | ||
| Total Hours | 3 | |
Biology Pre-Medical Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| STEM FOUNDATIONS * | 16 | |
| Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 and Fundamentals of Chemistry 1 Laboratory and Fundamentals of Chemistry 2 and Fundamentals of Chemistry 2 Laboratory | ||
| Introductory Physics 1 and Introductory Physics 1 Laboratory and Introductory Physics 2 and Introductory Physics 2 Laboratory | ||
| SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF HEALTH | 9 | |
| Introduction to Psychology | ||
| Health Care Ethics | ||
| Introduction to Sociology | ||
or PUBH 201 | Global Perspectives of Public Health | |
or PUBH 202 | Social Determinants of Health | |
| CORE COURSES | 29 | |
| Principles of Biology and Principles of Biology Laboratory | ||
| Introductory Physiology and Introductory Physiology Laboratory | ||
| Cellular and Molecular Biology and Cellular & Molecular Biology Laboratory | ||
| Ecology and Evolution | ||
| Quantitative Biology | ||
| Professional Development | ||
| Experimental Design & Communication 1 | ||
| Experimental Design & Communication 2 | ||
| Organic Chemistry 1 and Organic Chemistry 1 Laboratory | ||
| Organic Chemistry 2 and Organic Chemistry 2 Laboratory | ||
| AREA OF EMPHASIS | 15 | |
| Select one of the areas of emphasis below. | ||
Global Health (15 Hours) | ||
Human Health (16 Hours) | ||
| UPPER-DIVISION BIOLOGY ELECTIVES ** | 8 | |
| Select 8 credits of biology courses at the 300 or 400 level | ||
| CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE | 3 | |
| Select one of the following options: | ||
| The Total Science Experience: Genomics | ||
| Total Science Experience Lab | ||
| Honors Investigation and Thesis | ||
| Total Hours | 80 | |
- *
STEM foundation courses are common to most STEM majors and excluded from the calculation of the percentage of upper-division courses.
- **
Up to 6 credits of research (BIOL 386 or BIOL 484 and BIOL 485) can be used towards the Upper-Division Biology Electives.
- ***
Excluding BIOL 318, BIOL 320, BIOL 321, BIOL 327, BIOL 387, BIOL 486, BIOL 487, BIOL 490, BIOL 494 and above.
Suggested Plan of Study
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BIOL 191 | 1 | BIOL 117 & 117L (GEF 8; B.S. First Area 2) | 4 |
| BIOL 115 & 115L (GEF 2; B.S. First Area 1) | 4 | CHEM 116 & 116L (GEF 8; B.S. Second Area 2) | 4 |
| CHEM 115 & 115L (GEF 8; B.S. Second Area 1) | 4 | ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 |
| MATH 150 or 155 (GEF 3) | 3 | PHIL 331 (GEF 5) | 3 |
| PSYC 101 (GEF 4) | 3 | General Elective | 1 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BIOL 219 & 219L | 4 | BIOL 221 | 3 |
| ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | BIOL 327 | 1 |
| CHEM 233 & 233L | 4 | BIOL 223 | 3 |
| SOC 101, PUBH 201, or PUBH 202 | 3 | CHEM 234 & 234L | 4 |
| PHYS 101 | 4 | ||
| General Elective | 1 | ||
| 14 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| BIOL 387 | 1 | AoE Course 3 | 3 |
| AoE Course 1* | 3 | AoE Course 4 | 3 |
| AoE Course 2 | 3 | GEF 6 | 3 |
| PHYS 102 | 4 | General Elective | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| 14 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| AoE Course 5 | 3 | BIOL 487 | 1 |
| Upper-Division Biology Elective | 4 | BIOL Capstone | 3 |
| GEF 7 | 3 | Upper-Division Biology Elective | 4 |
| General Elective | 4 | General Elective | 3 |
| General Elective | 3 | ||
| General Elective | 3 | ||
| 14 | 17 | ||
| Total credit hours: 120 | |||
- *
At least two upper division lab courses must be taken, one of which can be 386 or 485.
Areas of Emphasis
Global Health Area of Emphasis
This focused training will prepare the graduate for professional programs in public health, infectious disease, conservation biology, and biomedical research.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 455 | Evolution of Infectious Diseases | 3 |
| BIOL 310 | Advanced Cellular/Molecular Biology | 3 |
| or BIOL 312 | Introduction to Virology | |
| or BIOL 313 | Molecular Basis of Cellular Growth | |
| or BIOL 316 | Developmental Biology | |
| or BIOL 324 | Molecular Genetics | |
| or BIOL 335 | Cell Physiology | |
| or BIOL 348 | Neuroscience 1 | |
| or BIOL 409 | Biochemical Basis of Therapeutics | |
| or BIOL 418 | Medical Genetics | |
| or BIOL 425 | Developmental Genetics | |
| or BIOL 426 | Molecular Biology of Cancer | |
| or BIOL 454 | Immunology | |
| or BIOL 475 | Neurobiological Diseases | |
| BIOL 338 | Behavioral Ecology | 3 |
| or BIOL 340 | Invertebrate Zoology | |
| or BIOL 344 & 344L | Advanced Human Physiology and Advanced Human Physiology Laboratory | |
| or BIOL 345 & 345L | Human Anatomy and Human Anatomy Laboratory | |
| or BIOL 436 | General Animal Physiology | |
| or BIOL 438 | Animal Behavior | |
| or BIOL 457 | Ecology of Parasites | |
| or AEM 341 & 341L | General Microbiology and General Microbiology Laboratory | |
| BIOL 363 | Plant Geography | 3 |
| or BIOL 365 & 365L | Conservation Biology and Conservation Biology Laboratory | |
| or BIOL 448 | Plant-Microbial Interactions | |
| or BIOL 462 | Ecosystem Models | |
| or BIOL 463 | Global Ecology | |
| or AEM 401 | Environmental Microbiology | |
| or WMAN 446 & 446L | Freshwater Ecology and Freshwater Ecology Laboratory | |
| BIOL 420 | Genomics | 3 |
| or BIOL 430 | Bioinformatics | |
| or BIOL 462 | Ecosystem Models | |
| or BIOL 476 | Computational Neuroscience | |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Human Health Area of Emphasis
This focused training will prepare the graduate for professional programs in medicine, dentistry, physician's assistant programs, and biomedical research.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AGBI 410 | Introductory Biochemistry | 3 |
| BIOL 310 | Advanced Cellular/Molecular Biology | 3 |
| or BIOL 324 | Molecular Genetics | |
| or BIOL 418 | Medical Genetics | |
| or BIOL 425 | Developmental Genetics | |
| BIOL 315 | Communicating Natural Science | 3 |
| or COMM 309 | Health Communication | |
| BIOL 312 | Introduction to Virology | 3 |
| or BIOL 454 | Immunology | |
| or BIOL 455 | Evolution of Infectious Diseases | |
| or AEM 341 & 341L | General Microbiology and General Microbiology Laboratory | |
| BIOL 345 & 345L | Human Anatomy and Human Anatomy Laboratory | 4 |
| or BIOL 344 & 344L | Advanced Human Physiology and Advanced Human Physiology Laboratory | |
| Total Hours | 16 | |
Major Learning Outcomes
Biology Pre-medical
Upon successful completion of the B.S. degree, students will demonstrate competency in these areas:
1. Biological: Students will demonstrate competency in the content areas (listed below) at three biological levels - cellular/molecular, organismal/physiological, ecosystem/populations)
- Information Flow
- Tranformations of energy and matter
- Structure-function relationships
- Evolution
- Systems and interactions
2. Professional Skills: Students will demonstrate interpersonal skills including: effective communication with both professional and general audiences in written and oral forms, the ability to work in collaborative teams, global perspectives, social awareness, ethical and moral reasoning, demonstrated ability to synthesize and apply knowledge and skills from across the curriculum to social issues and problems.
3. Scientific Process Skills: Students will be able to apply science process skills, including: scientific literacy, experimental design, collecting and analyzing data quantitatively and statistically, application of critical and analytical thinking to address scientific questions.