What courses do I need to have taken before applying to a TCM program?

Before you can start a graduate TCM program, most schools want to see that you've already covered a handful of undergraduate science courses — and it's a completely fair thing to wonder about, especially if your own background isn't in the sciences, or your last biology class was a long time ago.

At Five Branches University, the requirement is three natural science prerequisite courses — General Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, each a minimum of three semester credits — plus General Psychology, which is part of the general-education requirement rather than a natural science. Notably, the natural science courses may be taken at Five Branches itself, rather than necessarily requiring a regionally accredited institution:

(Source: Five Branches' own Educational Requirements page, revised 09/2026.)

The reassuring part: these don't all need to be finished before you apply. Missing one or two is fine — the three natural science courses may be taken concurrently with your TCM studies within the first two years of the program, though completing them before you start is highly recommended. General Psychology is the exception: it cannot be taken concurrently and must be completed at a regionally accredited, degree-granting college or university. Also note that natural science credits from non-accredited or vocational schools are not transferable.

This isn't a Five Branches quirk, either — it comes from the field's accreditor. The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM), which sets baseline standards nationally, requires science prerequisites covering chemistry, biology, and psychology for doctoral-entry programs (per ACAHM's own published standards, checked 07/2026). Individual schools can and do set their own version above that floor, so if you're weighing more than one school, it's worth checking each one's own admissions page rather than assuming they match.

One thing worth separating out: prerequisites are a different question from transfer credit — if you already hold healthcare training (nursing, PT, etc.) or prior TCM coursework, some of your existing credits may satisfy these outright rather than requiring new classes.

Curious whether something you've already studied might cover one or more of these?