This one-year Master of Science degree prepares students for a career in medical sciences research or to enter medical, dental, optometry, physician assistant and pharmacy schools.
Prepare for clinical professional schools in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and other similar fields with integrated classroom and laboratory experiences taught at the medical school level.
Mississippi College’s Master of Science in Biology-Medical Sciences is a clinical laboratory science degree program that prepares students for research careers or to apply to professional schools such as medical, dental, optometry, physician assistant and pharmacy schools. Our flexible course structure permits students to finish their master’s program in one year and we offer the resources of a full cadaver lab as well as shelf exam preparation. This medical sciences program does not have a thesis component.
At Mississippi College, the Medical Sciences program can be completed in one calendar year. Unlike many medical science masters programs, most courses are offered both fall and spring, enabling students to mix and match course loads each semester, giving them great flexibility in designing the class sequence. With the one-year timeline, this master’s degree aligns seamlessly with the application cycle for medical and other professional schools.
Students typically take about 12 semester hours both fall and spring terms and complete the 33-hour requirement the following summer term. While most students complete the Medical Sciences master’s program in 12 months, the program may be extended beyond that time frame.
Other graduate Biological Science degrees offered at Mississippi College include an M.Ed and a Master of Science in Biology with a thesis option.
Mississippi College’s M.S. in Biology-Medical Sciences program offers the following courses that closely align with what is taught in the first-year of medical school:
Two, five-hour Pharmacology courses are taught each summer, covering approximately what is covered in a typical Pharmacology course. Our program offers a unique opportunity for students to take courses taught at the medical school level as a way to prepare for medical school while earning a formal master’s degree.
At Mississippi College, our Medical Sciences program has facilities similar to a medical school that offer sophisticated clinical laboratory experiences as part of the master’s degree curriculum. Our state-of-the-art 20,000-square-foot medical science facility includes a 4,800-square-foot gross anatomy laboratory, two large classrooms, a histology laboratory and 2,700 square feet of office and research space. In particular, the size of our gross anatomy laboratory allows for our Human Gross Anatomy courses to be a full-body cadaver dissection class. This is a unique opportunity for pre-medical school students to have access to cadaver material for an immersive learning experience. Additionally, students learn to read basic X-rays, CAT Scans and MRIs.
At the end of each medical school course—for instance, Gross Anatomy—many medical schools give their students a comprehensive national exam, commonly called a shelf exam. Formally known as Subject Examinations, the exams are sent to the National Board of Medical Examiners to be scored. The results are sent back to the medical schools which in turn give each student his or her score. Scores are ranked by percentile so that the student can compare his or her score on that particular Gross Anatomy exam to all of the other medical students in the country.
Our Medical Sciences master’s students have the opportunity to take the National Board of Medical Examiners Subject Examinations for Gross Anatomy, Cell Biology and Histology, Neuroscience, Physiology, Microbiology and Pharmacology. Some of our graduate students do substantially better on the shelf exams than the average medical student taking the same course in medical school. Our high score on the Gross Anatomy shelf exam was in the 99th percentile, which means that the student performed better than 99 percent of medical students who took that exam. The shelf exams are optional; students can take any of the shelf exams they wish or none at all.
The Master of Science in Biology-Medical Sciences program fosters the medical school and clinical research ambitions of high-achieving students across Mississippi, in addition to welcoming out-of-state and international applicants. Students can begin this program in the fall, spring or summer term.
To apply to the Medical Sciences program, prospective students must:
Please note we do not need letters of recommendation or personal statements.
| Summer Admission | May 20 |
| Fall Admission | August 10 |
| Spring Admission | December 19 |
All transcripts and standardized scores must be submitted by those dates. Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis. All materials relative to an individual’s application including official transcripts, standardized test scores and application fee must be sent to:
Graduate School
Box 4029
Mississippi College
Clinton, MS 39058
When applying to the Medical Sciences program, all general requirements for admission to the graduate school of Mississippi College must be met. The MCAT exam or DAT exam may be substituted for the GRE requirement. The following are the minimum scores for standardized exams:
Applications will not be reviewed until standardized scores are received by the graduate school. However, this one-year master’s program is highly competitive; therefore, it is recommended to have scores above the minimum requirement. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission into the program.
Sixteen hours of Biology, 16 hours of Chemistry and 8 hours of Physics coursework are required to enter this clinical laboratory science program. Exceptions to the 16 hours of Biology may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Biochemistry courses count towards the Biology requirement. Applicants must have a C or better in all of the following courses: 2 semesters of freshman Biology, 2 semesters of freshman Chemistry, 2 semesters of Organic Chemistry and 2 semesters of Physics.
Questions regarding admission status or materials sent to the graduate office can be sent to Mrs. Debbie DePriest at 601-925-3261 or ddepries@mc.edu.
For information on the application process, graduate catalog and other resources, please visit Mississippi College’s Graduate Admissions site.
Curriculum-specific questions about the Medical Sciences program can be directed to Dr. Stan Baldwin, Dean of the School of Science and Mathematics. He will be happy to answer any questions that you may have about this master’s program.
Our Medical Sciences master’s program consists of 33 semester hours of graduate work that can be completed in one calendar year. Students must take 3 of the 7 following courses: BIO 5403, BIO 5404, BIO 5405, BIO 5410, BIO 5412, BIO 5413 and BIO 5425. The remaining credit hours must be chosen from the following courses:
| Class | Class Name | Semester Offered | Hours |
| BIO 5403 | Vertebrate Histology | Fall/Spring | 5 |
| BIO 5404** | Pharmacology I | Summer | 5 |
| BIO 5405** | Pharmacology II | Summer | 5 |
| BIO 5406 | Introduction to Toxicology | May Term | 3 |
| BIO 5407 | Biology of Cancer | Fall/Spring | 3 |
| BIO 5409 | Human Embryology | Fall/Spring | 3 |
| BIO 5410 | Human Gross Anatomy | Fall/Spring | 8 |
| BIO 5412 | Medical Physiology I | Fall/Spring | 8 |
| BIO 5413 | Medical Physiology II | Fall/Spring | 5 |
| BIO 5414 | General Microbiology | Fall/Spring | 4 |
| BIO 5415 | Immunology | Fall/Spring | 3 |
| BIO 5416 | Immunology Lab | Spring | 1 |
| BIO 5417 | Medical Microbiology | Fall/Spring | 4 |
| BIO 5418 | Infectious Disease | Summer | 3 |
| BIO 5419 | DNA Forensics | May Term | 3 |
| BIO 5422 | Virology | Fall/Spring | 3 |
| BIO 5425 | Human Neuroanatomy | Fall/Spring | 5 |
| BIO 5426 | Mitochondrial Genomics | Summer | 3 |
| CHE 5418 | Biochemistry I: Macromolecules | Fall/Summer | 3 |
| CHE 5419 | Biochemistry II: Metabolism | Spring/Summer | 3 |
| BIO 5442, 5443, 5445, 5446 | Special Topics | As Needed | 3 |
| BIO 6305 | Cell Physiology | Fall/Spring/Summer | 2 |
| BIO 6330 | Seminar Observation | Fall/Spring/Summer | 1 |
| BIO 6430* | Graduate Seminar | Fall/Spring/Summer | 2 |
| BIO 6460, 6461, 6462 | Independent Studies | As Needed | 1 |
| BIO 6501 | Unifying Principles of Biology | Fall/Spring/Summer | 3 |
| BIO 6505 | Genomics | Fall/Spring/Summer | 3 |
| BIO 6506 | Food & Water Microbiology | Summer | 3 |
| BIO 6541 | Medical Genetics | Fall/Spring | 3 |
| BIO 6545, 6546, 6547 | Special Topics | As Needed | 3 |
| BIO 6562 | Research | As Needed | 1-3 |
| BIO 6591, 6592, 6593 | Field Studies | As Needed | 1 |
*BIO 6430 is required for graduation. **BIO 5412 and 5413 are prerequisite courses for BIO 5404 and 5405.
