Other Programs

Undergraduate students majoring in any other discipline may earn a minor in biomedical engineering by completing the required 22 credit hours of course work. Students majoring in electrical or mechanical engineering may earn the minor in biomedical engineering by completing 21 credits, and may apply the minor towards a five-year accelerated degree program combined with the Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering.

This minor program is designed for students who desire skills in addition to those developed in the basic sciences and is especially intended for biology and chemistry majors.
For admission to the minor, students need

(1) To be fully admitted to their major;

(2) To have a GPA ≥ 2.5.

To successfully complete the minor, a grade of “C” or better is required in all courses. The minor requires a minimum of 22 credit hours consisting of the following courses:

2 BME Electives

Electives: The electives allow for the student to tailor their emphasis of study and must be one of the following two-course sequences:

The Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Certificate offered through the CAS Office of Pre-Health Professions Advising consists of a minimum of 15 credits of upper division premedical coursework, as well as up to an additional 35 credits of prerequisite coursework depending on the academic background of the student. It is designed to enable students to take the coursework required for medical school admission, to facilitate success on the MCAT exam, and due to its interdisciplinary nature, enhance understanding of medical issues.

John T. Landrum, Director, Pre-Health Professions Advising and Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Steering Committee

Michael Brown, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Bruce Dunlap, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Kenton Harris, Assistant Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Philosophy

Jeffrey Joens, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Admissions Requirements

Any student already holding a BA or BS degree is eligible to apply for this certificate program. Through the Pre-Health Professions Advising Center, a wide variety of student services and opportunities are available to the students in this program as they are for the traditional FIU premedical students.

Prerequisite(s):

The following courses are required for admissions to medical school and to many other health professional schools. They are also prerequisites for course work required by this certificate program. Once enrolled in the Post-baccalaureate Undergraduate Premedical Certificate Program, any of these courses not already completed must be taken at FIU. A grade of “C” or better is required in all courses (“C-“ is not acceptable).

OR

OR

Required Courses (12 credits):

OR

One Physiology Course at the 3000 level or higher with the approval of the Certificate Program Director.

Elective Courses (3 credits):

Must complete ONE of the following. A grade of “C” or better is required in all courses (“C-“ is not acceptable).

At FIU the Pre-Health Professions Advising and Evaluation Committee  (PPAEC) has served students seeking admission to professional programs for over 30 years and has developed a strong rapport with many of the programs in the State of Florida as well as numerous nationally  recognized programs where our students are frequent matriculants.

Pre-Health Professions Committees at universities and colleges around the country fill an important role in the application process for undergraduates seeking a career in one of the health professions.  Pre-medical and pre-dental students, especially, benefit from the ability to work with the Committee in submission of their evaluative material and letters of recommendation.  Colleges and Schools of Medicine and Dentistry throughout the U.S. expect and prefer a Committee and/or Composite letter of recommendation from the applicant’s home institution over individually submitted applications since this provides them much more consistent and experienced evaluations.  A Committee also provides these professional schools a single point of contact when additional information may be needed for a candidate.  For students, their Advisors and the Committee are credible advocates for their application.  At FIU, The Office of Pre-Health Professions Advising also supports application to programs of Pharmacy, Optometry, Veterinary, Podiatry, Physician Assistant and Chiropractic

Students who are successful in preparing for careers  in the health professions** maintain GPA’s between 3.0 and 4.0 throughout their academic careers.  It should not be surprising to applicants that the most prestigious schools are the most selective in all requirements:  GPA, Admission Test Scores, Leadership and Professional/Clinical Experience.  It is our experience that all professional programs share a philosophical desire to attract the best students and that they are unwilling to compromise on their academic expectations irrespective of the extent of the experience and commitment of a student to the career.  The different professions all seek exceptional students but vary somewhat in their selectivity.  Students completing applications for US MD programs are generally competitive only if they maintain a GPA (in each, the sciences and all other areas) above 3.5.  There are foreign medical schools that offer the MD and are fully recognized within the U.S., particularly some Caribbean schools.  Students may successfully seek admission to one of these schools with a GPA that is somewhat lower that that required by U.S. Colleges or Schools of Medicine.

The academic admission requirements for Osteopathic Colleges of Medicine (D.O. Medical Schools) span a wider range than do those for U.S. M.D. programs.  As the number of high quality applicants has increased, so have the average admission scores and grades for matriculates at U.S. Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Note: General Education requirements (non-science) for most professional programs includes 6 semester credits of English and 9 semester credits of Humanities/Social Sciences.

Dental school academic admission requirements span a wider range that do those of medical schools but it is accurate to say that competitive dental school applicants must have a GPA greater than or equal to about 3.4.

Pharmacy is frequently a career choice of FIU pre-health profession students.  Depending on their preparation and experience, students will find that successful application is possible at one of the several pharmacy programs within the State of Florida with a cumulative and science GPA above 3.0.

Students seeking a degree and career in Veterinary Medicine will find that admission requirements are highly competitive, comparable to those for admission to medical schools.  In part, the competitive environment is the result of the small number of programs (only one in the State of Florida).  Some FIU students apply to and attend veterinary school at St. George’s University which has an articulation agreement with the University of Florida.

All pre-health professions students should be aware of the fact that many professional schools are funded by the state in which they are found and acceptance is limited to residents of that state.  Our international students will find that their choices are much more limited than U.S. permanent residents and citizens.  Many professional schools do not accept U.S. non-residents.  Those professional schools that do accept international students are, typically, prestigious private universities where admission is exceptionally competitive.  Never the less, FIU has been successful at preparing many international students for acceptance to medical and/or dental schools within the U.S.

**Students seeking to apply to Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Sports Therapy programs should seek advising within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences  where these degree options are offered at FIU.  For those specifically interested in Physical Therapy should follow this link.