Most medical schools require at least one year of biology and related lab work, according to Kaplan Test Prep's article on medical school prerequisites. Johns Hopkins Medical School, for example, requires one year of biology and one year of related lab work, according to its website. Harvard Medical School also requires one year of biology "with laboratory experience" and specifies that "courses taken should deal with the cellular and molecular aspects as well as the structure and function of living organisms," according to its website.
Most prospective neonatal doctors spend a significant amount of time studying chemistry as undergraduates, because most medical schools require at least two years of coursework. Generally, this coursework should be fulfilled with one year of organic chemistry and one year of general (inorganic) chemistry, according to Kaplan's article. Some schools, such as Johns Hopkins, require students to take related lab work as well; prospective students should check their intended medical school's website for details.
Most schools require at least one year's coursework in physics, according to Kaplan's article. Some schools, like Johns Hopkins, require one year's related lab work as well; others, such as Harvard Medical School, do not.
About two-thirds of medical schools require undergraduate English coursework to be considered for admission, according to the Kaplan article. Harvard Medical School, for example, requires a minimum of one year of expository writing, explaining that writing skills are "very important to the study and practice of medicine." Prospective neonatal doctors should look for courses with a strong expository writing element, Harvard suggests.
About one-quarter of medical schools require some mathematics courses, according to the Kaplan article. Medical schools are most likely to require a year's worth of calculus, as Johns Hopkins and Harvard do; both schools' websites note that Advanced Placement credits fulfill this requirement.