Admission Requirements

At present, the Division of Biomedical Sciences (certification #48; 1975-1976) of the Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, offers various specialties in two advanced degrees:

Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in:

Anatomy
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Pharmacology
Physiology

The minimum requirements for admission are:

Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) or its equivalent from an accredited institution. Higher degrees, such as Master in Science (MS), Master in Health Sciences (MHS), or professional doctoral degrees, are also accepted in specific situations.
Minimum general grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0
Minimum grade point average in science courses (GPS) of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0
Required science and mathematics courses for the specific program of interest
Three (3) letters of recommendation, using the official forms provided on our website. At least two (2) of these must be from professors or work supervisors in the field.
A working knowledge of English and Spanish.
Submission of an essay in English (400 maximum word count) describing the student’s interest in the field.
An interview with faculty members of the Department to which the student is applying.
Submission of the application form and other required documents on time.
Submit and pay the application fee.

If a student lists previous research experience, they must provide evidence, such as abstracts, manuscripts, etc. The GRE is no longer required.

The grade point average in science courses (GPS) [science and mathematics courses] of the MS or MHS program, will be considered for the GPS calculation for admission.

Courses taken as a “Special Student” in the MSC, UPR system, or another accredited institution of higher education, cannot be used to calculate the GPS for admission to the program.

“Special Student”, as defined by the “Manual del Registrador”, is a student that is not active in the UPR System or any other higher education institution, and has not been admitted to any graduate program, be it at the UPR system or another accredited institution of higher education. The student must receive authorization from the Director of one of the five departments indicated above, as well as from the Director of the Graduate Program of the Division for Biomedical Sciences, to take courses within the Graduate Program before seeking admission in any of its programs, or for other particular reasons (e.g., updating knowledge in a specific field of expertise needed for the person´s present job). A maximum of 8-semester credits for each of two academic sessions is allowed for special students¹. However, if the courses taken as a special student are approved with a minimum grade of “B” or higher, and the student is eventually admitted to one of the Division´s Graduate Programs, some of these courses could be transferred to the student’s graduate academic record, if recommended by the Departmental Graduate Committee and the Graduate Program, up to a maximum of 10 credits for an MS program, or 20 credits for a Ph.D. program.

Basic science courses (two-semester courses) required by all the departments are: