Department Contact Information
Chair: Dr. Justin Merry
Telephone: 814-471-1105
Email: jmerry@francis.edu
Coordinator: Dr. Susan Reimer
Telephone: 814-472-3086
Email: sreimer@francis.edu
Estimated Completion Time
4 years, with potential to complete MBA in 5 total years.
Program Description
(Pre-Dental, Pre-Medical, Pre-Optometry, Pre-Podiatry)
The Joseph Erevelles Biology, B.S., Pre-Medicine program is a biology degree designed to prepare students for careers in medicine, dentistry, optometry, or related professional disciplines. Students specialize in the fundamental biological processes of the human body, gaining a foundation in the function of cells and tissues. Students develop advanced lab skills in molecular biology that can be used to diagnose and research disease, such as vertebrate cell culture, advanced microscopy, polymerase chain reaction, genomics, and protein assays. Includes specialized advising and mentoring to help students prepare for entrance exams and other admissions requirements for professional schools.
The Accelerated M.B.A. provides an opportunity to earn valuable skills in business administration that will be particularly useful to students who may like to eventually own and operate their own practice. This program is designed to be completed in as little as five years; students would apply to professional schools in the summer prior to the start of their fifth year at Saint Francis. Students in this accelerated program may take up to 9 credits of graduate MBA courses that can be utilized to fulfill both free electives in the undergraduate program and requirements in the MBA program.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Employ the scientific method, including the use of discipline-specific techniques, to discover and validate biological knowledge.
- Demonstrate scientific literacy through reading, writing, presenting, and discussing research.
- Demonstrate knowledge of how atoms and molecules interact to permit the function of living systems, and how cells sense, control, and respond to stimuli in their environments.
- Demonstrate knowledge of molecular genetics and how this leads to the expression and inheritance of traits.
- Explain how organisms reproduce and develop, how their anatomical structure permits function, how they maintain internal conditions, and how they sense and respond to external stimuli, across the full range of biological diversity.
- Describe how evolution by natural selection explains the unity and diversity of life on earth, and articulate how organisms interact at the population, community, and ecosystem levels.
Progression and/or Retention Criteria
All students in the accelerated Biology Pre-Medicine BS/MBA program must meet the following academic requirements to have guaranteed admission to the MBA program upon completion of the undergraduate degree requirements. Failure to meet the progression standards will result in dismissal from the major but not the university. This includes all accelerated majors leading to the MBA program approved by the University.
- At any time after earning 30 credits but before earning 60 credits, the student must have achieved a minimum overall cumulative QPA of 2.750. Failure to have achieved this QPA will result in Department Academic Warning.
- At any time after earning 60 credits but before earning 90 credits, the student must have achieved a minimum overall cumulative QPA of 3.000. Failure to achieve this QPA will result in dismissal from the major.
- At any time after earning 90 credits and upon graduation from the undergraduate program, the student must have achieved a minimum overall cumulative QPA of 3.200. Failure to achieve this QPA will result in dismissal from the major.
Students dismissed from the Biology Pre-Medicine BS/MBA major should contact their academic advisor to select another major; they may have the option to continue in the Biology Pre-Medicine program without the Accelerated MBA. Dismissed students can still apply for admission to the MBA program upon completion of their undergraduate degree, however there is no acceleration option and acceptance is not guaranteed.
Capstone Requirement
The senior capstone requirement is completed by taking BIOL 402 Evolution