This is the preliminary (or launch) version of the 2026-2027 VCU Bulletin. Courses that expose students to cutting-edge content and transformative learning may be added and notification of additional program approvals may be received prior to finalization. General education program content is also subject to change. The final edition and full PDF version will include these updates and will be available in August prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
The post-baccalaureate undergraduate Certificate in Health Sciences is designed for students who hold a baccalaureate degree in a non-science area and wish to pursue their undergraduate pre-health sciences requirements at VCU. The certificate program assists students in obtaining the prerequisites for admission into professional-level training programs in the health sciences. The program is intended for students who have few or none of the prerequisites they need to enter professional-level training programs in physician assistant studies, podiatry, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine, optometry and veterinary medicine. This program challenges students to complete more intensive science and math course work and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Students who have attempted the prerequisites and are seeking to enhance their academic/ science credentials should consider entering the Certificate in Pre-medical Graduate Health Sciences program offered through VCU School of Medicine
The certificate can take one to two years to complete with either full- or part-time study. Students are advised on how to progress based on prior performance in math and science course work, work and family constraints, and other factors that could affect the time frame to completion.
Prerequisites for admission
Admission to the post-baccalaureate health sciences certificate program is based on students’ academic achievement in their baccalaureate programs, program prerequisites and whether the certificate program will help them achieve their professional goals. The program accepts students to start in the fall and spring semesters. Application deadlines are the same for transfer students applying to the university. The program is not offered to students pursuing entry into undergraduate professional-level training programs, nor is it open to those pursuing pre-health course work as part of their undergraduate advising tracks at VCU.
Specific admissions requirements are as follows:
-
Bachelor’s degree in a non-science discipline from an accredited institution
-
Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in bachelor’s degree course work
-
Prerequisite course work as noted below
Before beginning the certificate, students must show minimum competency by completing or transferring in equivalent courses with minimum grades of B- for the following:
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 151 | Precalculus Mathematics | 4 |
| BIOL 151 & BIOZ 151 | Introduction to Biological Sciences I and Introduction to Biological Science Laboratory I | 4 |
| BIOL 152 & BIOZ 152 | Introduction to Biological Sciences II and Introduction to Biological Science Laboratory II | 4 |
| CHEM 101 & CHEZ 101 | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry Laboratory I | 4 |
| CHEM 102 & CHEZ 102 | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry Laboratory II | 4 |
Students must have completed all prerequisite courses within five years of the time they begin the certificate program in order to apply them toward program admission.
Certificate program requirements
Students completing the certificate are expected to achieve competency in more advanced, 200-level or higher science courses and will be expected to gain health care experience at a site of their choosing. Students can learn about health care program admissions requirements and strengthen their credentials through advising, student-run club activities and seminars.
To transfer any course work into the program, courses must have been completed at an accredited institution, taken within five years of matriculating into the program and awarded a minimum grade of B-. Students can transfer in a maximum of 11 hours toward the upper-level sciences. A minimum of 14 hours of upper-level sciences must be completed at VCU.
The academic requirements to complete the health sciences certificate program are as follows:
-
Students must complete a minimum of 25 hours from the more advanced 200-, 300- and 400-level sciences courses listed below. (Some students may choose to do additional course work based on professional program prerequisites.)
-
Three of the courses in the more advanced sciences must include a lab component.
Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA to be eligible to continue course work and to earn the certificate. This GPA will be calculated based on course work completed in the certificate program at VCU. Students falling below the 3.0 GPA will be placed on warning and given one academic semester (fall or spring) to raise their GPA to the minimum 3.0 standard. Students who fail to raise their GPA to a 3.0 after being placed on warning will not be eligible to earn the certificate and be prevented from continuing to take courses toward completing the certificate.
Courses will be selected from the following lists.
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Math and statistics | ||
| MATH 200 | Calculus with Analytic Geometry I | 4 |
| STAT 210 | Basic Practice of Statistics | 3 |
| STAT 314 | Applications of Statistics | 4 |
| Biology | ||
| BIOL 205 | Basic Human Anatomy | 4 |
| or BIOL 402 | Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy | |
| BIOL 209 | Medical Microbiology | 3 |
| or BIOL 303 | Microbiology | |
| BIOL 300 | Cellular and Molecular Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 308 | Vertebrate Histology | 4 |
| BIOL 310 | Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL/FRSC 438 | Forensic Molecular Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 445 | Neurobiology and Behavior | 4 |
| BIOL 448 | Neuroscience | 3 |
| BIOL 455 | Immunology | 3 |
| BIOL 450 | Biology of Cancer I | 3 |
| BIOL 451 | Biology of Cancer II | 4 |
| BIOL 452 | Biology of Drugs | 3 |
| BIOL 524 | Endocrinology | 3 |
| BIOL 530 | Introduction to Human Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL 540 | Fundamentals of Molecular Genetics | 3 |
| Biology lab | ||
| BIOZ 310 | Laboratory in Genetics | 2 |
| BIOZ 438 | Forensic Molecular Biology Laboratory | 2 |
| Chemistry | ||
| CHEM 301 | Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 302 | Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 303 | 3 | |
| CHEM 304 | 3 | |
| CHEM 305 | 3 | |
| CHEM 309 | Quantitative Analysis | 3 |
| CHEM/MEDC 310 | Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design | 3 |
| CHEM 320 | Inorganic Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 403 | Biochemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 404 | Biochemistry II | 3 |
| Chemistry labs | ||
| CHEZ 301 | Organic Chemistry Laboratory I | 2 |
| CHEZ 302 | Organic Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| CHEZ 303 | 2 | |
| CHEZ 304 | 2 | |
| CHEZ 309 | Quantitative Analysis Laboratory | 2 |
| Kinesiology and health sciences | ||
| HPEX 350 | Nutrition | 3 |
| HPEX 358 | Introduction to Epidemiology | 3 |
| HPEX 374 | Musculoskeletal Structure and Movement | 4 |
| HPEX 375 | Physiology of Exercise | 3 |
| Pharmacology | ||
| PHTX 400 | Drugs and Their Actions | 3 |
| PHTX 548 | Drug Dependence | 3 |
| Physics | ||
| PHYS 201 | General Physics I (includes laboratory) | 4 |
| PHYS 202 | General Physics II (includes laboratory) | 4 |
| PHYS 207 | University Physics I (includes laboratory) | 4 |
| PHYS 208 | University Physics II (includes laboratory) | 4 |
| Physiology | ||
| PHIS 206 | Human Physiology | 3 |
| or BIOL 411 | Physiology | |
| Physiology lab | ||
| PHIZ 206 | Human Physiology Laboratory | 1 |
The minimum number of credit hours required for this certificate is 25.
Health care experience graduation requirement
To graduate from the certificate program students must complete a minimum of 50 hours of health care experience in a site of their choosing. Hours must be documented and validated by the student’s site supervisor and submitted to the program director upon submission of the application to graduate.