Pre-Veterinary Medicine Transfer AS

Associate in Science Code 1517

Program Contacts:
QC Campus
Todd Linscott, 309-796-5242, linscottt@bhc.edu


The Quad-Cities Campus Pre-Veterinary curriculum is offered through the Department of Natural Sciences and Engineering. The completion of this course of study outlined will provide the student with the course experiences needed to transfer to a four-year institution to complete requirements to enter a veterinary school. The Pre-Veterinary Medicine curriculum presented here is based on the entrance requirements to the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Iowa State University College. For many veterinary colleges the pre-veterinary medicine is considered a pre-professional tract within a major, leaving the student open to a major of their choice. Veterinary colleges are seeking students with diverse backgrounds and are open to a wide variety of majors. Science majors are the most common (such as animal science, biology, zoology, animal ecology, biochemistry and microbiology), but students are admitted to veterinary schools with degrees in business, fine arts, music, English, engineering and psychology. Since universities may require specific courses for their pre-veterinary candidates, students should consult with Advising or the faculty contact person at Black Hawk College and/or an advisor at the transfer university as soon as possible. Admission to schools of veterinary medicine is highly competitive.

Required courses for this program include: »

BIOL 105 General Biology I
Prerequisite: Students must be eligible for (as determined by COMPASS score or other assessment) or currently enrolled in college level Math and English courses (100-level or greater).
For science and pre-professional majors and those with strong interest in science, this course includes the principles of cellular and molecular biology, including the chemistry of life, metabolism, photosynthesis, classical and molecular genetics, genetic regulation, and cellular reproduction.
5 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: L1 900L; BIO 910

BIOL 106 General Biology II
Prerequisite: BIOL 105 or instructor consent.
For science and pre-professional majors and those with strong interest in science. This course includes principles of organismic population and community biology including reproduction, development, homeostasis, behavior, ecology, and evolution.
5 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: BIO 910

CHEM 101 General Chemistry I
Prerequisite: One year of high school chemistry or CHEM 110 or the completion of MATH 112 or 118 or by Algebra assessment.
Fundamental principles of stoichiometry, periodicity, atomic structure and thermochemistry with applications to gases, liquids, solids and solutions.
4 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: P1 902L; CHM 911

CHEM 102 General Chemistry II
Prerequisite: CHEM 101.
Continuation of CHEM 101. Equilibrium calculations, electrochemistry, acid-base theory, coordination compounds, inorganic chemistry.
4 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: CHM 912

CHEM 203 Organic Chemistry I
Prerequisite: CHEM 101.
Synthetic and mechanistic features of hydrocarbons, alkyl halides and alcohols, including nomenclature.
5 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: CHM 913

CHEM 204 Organic Chemistry II
Prerequisite: CHEM 203.
Continuation of CHEM 203. Emphasis on functional group reactions and mechanisms with spectrochemical interpretations.
5 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 6 lab hours per week. IAI: CHM 914

ENG 101 Composition I
Prerequisite: ACT English score of 22-30 or appropriate COMPASS score; or English 091 “C” or better.
English 101 is designed for students who are competent in the fundamentals of composition. Students will write essays using a variety of expository strategies and will apply standard techniques of documentation when appropriate.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. IAI: C1 900 (Grade of “C” or higher required for this course to be eligible to be included in the IAI General Education Core Curriculum.)

ENG 102 Composition II
Prerequisite: English 101 “C” or better.
English 102 is a continuation of English 101, is a required composition course that involves reading, discussion, and analysis of a body of literature to generate ideas for critical and persuasive papers, including one documented research paper.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. IAI: C1 901R (Grade of “C” or higher required for this course to be eligible to be included in the IAI General Education Core Curriculum.)

MATH 124 Calculus I with Analytic Geometry
Prerequisites: Appropriate placement score or MATH 118 or MATH 112 and MATH 116 “C” or better.
First semester calculus including analytic geometry, with emphasis on functions, limits, continuity, derivative and some of its applications, differentials, antiderivatives, and the definite integral.
4 credit hours: lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. IAI: M1 900-1, MTH 901

MATH 131 Finite Mathematics for Business
Prerequisite: Appropriate placement score or MATH 112 “C” or better.
This course applies the concepts of algebra to problems found in economics, business, and non-physical sciences. The emphasis is on applications, not on mathematical structure. Topics include linear systems and programming, matrix algebra, mathematics of finance, an introduction to probability and game theory.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. IAI: M1 906

MATH 132 Calculus for Bus/Soc Sciences
Prerequisite: Appropriate placement score or MATH 112 “C” or better.
A calculus course which includes differential and integral calculus as applied to business, economics, sociology and natural science. Topics include functions, limits, derivatives, applications of the derivative, and integration.
4 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. . IAI: M1 900-B

PHYS 101 College Physics I
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in college algebra or equivalent.
For students majoring in a field other than pre-engineering,mathematics or physics. Theory of mechanics, heat and sound. Graduation credit not permitted for both PHYS 101 and 201.
5 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week. IAI: P1 900L

PHYS 102 College Physics II
Prerequisite: PHYS 101.
Theory of magnetism, electricity, light and topics from atomic and nuclear physics. Graduation credit not permitted for both PHYS 102 and 202.
5 credit hours: 4 lecture hours; 3 lab hours per week.

SPEC 101 Principles of Speech Communication
The oral communication course combines communication theory with the practice of oral communication skills. The oral communication course: (1) develops awareness of the communication process; (2) provides inventional, organizational, and expressive strategies; (3) promotes understanding of and adaptation to a variety of communication contexts; and (4) emphasizes critical skills in listening, reading, thinking and speaking.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week. IAI: C2 900

Course of Study Outline
First Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
BIOL 105 — General Biology I (5)
CHEM 101 — General Chemistry I (4)
ENG 101 — Composition I (3)
SPEC 101 — Principles of Speech Communication (3)
1Mathematics Elective (3)

Second Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
BIOL 106 — General Biology II (5)
CHEM 102 — General Chemistry II (4)
ENG 102 — Composition II (3)
MATH 124 — Calculus I (4)

Third Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
CHEM 203 — Organic Chemistry I (5)
PHYS 101 — College Physics I (5)
Social and Behavioral Sciences (3)
Non-Western Studies Elective (3)

Fourth Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
CHEM 204 — Organic Chemistry II (5)
PHYS 102 — College Physics II (5)
Humanities (3)
Social and Behavioral Sciences (3)

Minimum total hours required for degree (66)

1Suggested MATH 124. May also take MATH 131 or 132 (some programs also require Statistics).

NOTE: Students desiring to complete an AA/AS degree in the pre-veterinary medicine curriculum must be certain that their course program includes six hours of mathematics, nine hours of humanities and fine arts general education elective (with one course selected from fine arts), nine hours of social science general education electives, three hours of non-western culture, along with seven to eight credit hours of science with one course selected for life sciences and one from the physical science general education elective (include at least one laboratory course).