3+2 Dual BA Degree Option: Biology (General) and Clinical Laboratory Science

For students who are considering applying to medical school or dental school, this dual degree option provides a viable alternate career should they not be admitted to medical or dental school. If you want to be able to complete the full array of coursework for pre-med but have a career alternative should you not get in, then consider this dual degree option.

Clinical Laboratory Science provides a way to still work in the medical field and contribute to patient care, though you are behind the scenes. Over 75% of medical diagnoses are made by the laboratory tests that clinical laboratory scientists (also called medical technologists) perform every day. And there are job vacancies in this field all over the US.

Because you will be prepared at the baccalaureate level in the clinical laboratory profession, you will be eligible to move into supervisory as well as lab manager positions after you gain experience in the field.

Hospital laboratories are where the majority of CLS professionals work, though you can also work in other areas with this degree including crime labs (DNA identification), public health labs, reference labs, industrial labs, and as a clinical trials coordinator with a biotechnology company. The 3+2 plan allows you to complete both majors for your BS degree in 5 years as opposed to doing each degree separately which takes 6 years.

If you are a current Biology major, Dr. Jean-Luc Scemama in Biology will be happy to speak with you about the dual degree option. If you want to know more about the Clinical Laboratory Science curriculum and profession, contact Dr. Kathleen Schulman in the College of Allied Health Sciences, telephone 744-6062 or in person at the Health Sciences Building, Rm. 3410.

For 3+2 Dual BS Degree Curriculum for Biology (General) and Clinical Laboratory Science, you will take:

Foundations Curriculum (same as currently required for BS in Biology, General) [42 s.h.]: CHEM 1150,1151,1160, 1161; MATH 1065; 12 s.h. social science; 10 s.h. humanities/fine arts; EXSS 1000; HLTH 1000; ENGL 1100, ENGL 1200.

Biology Core  [15 s.h.]: BIOL 1150, 1151, 1200, 1201, 2250, 2251, 2300.

Cognates  [22 s.h.]: CHEM 2750, 2753, 2760, 2763; MATH 2121, 2122; PHYS 1250, 1251, 1260, 1261) AND for CLSC [15 s.h.]: CLSC 2000, CHEM 2250, 2251 (3 s.h. Research Skills for Biology); BIOL 2130; BIOL 3220, 3221 (8 s.h. BIOL electives).

Additional Research Skills [6 s.h.]: MATH 2228 (statistics), (3) ENGL 3820 OR ITEC 3290 (scientific or technical writing) (3)

BIOL electives (incl BIOL 2130 and 3220/3221) (15-16)

The above represents 107-108 s.h. to be completed over three academic years as Biology majors and to then enter the professional phase of the CLSC program in Fall semester of their fourth year.

Typical Course Sequence for the 3+2 Dual BS Degrees in Biology (General) and Clinical Laboratory Science.

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