Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, PA, Optometry, Physical Therapy: The Exams and the Biology They Test
The short version
- Almost every health career has its own entrance exam, and almost all of them start from the same introductory biology you are taking now: cells, membranes, proteins and enzymes, energy, genes and signals.
- The tools on this site build that biology. The inventory below lists each one, the exam topics it covers, and a utility score out of 12.
- Use them the way the research says people learn: predict before you look, explain it in your own words, draw it from memory, and come back to it more than once.
- This is not a prep course. It is a map from what we do in class to where it shows up again.
Some of you want to be physicians. Others are headed for dentistry, nursing, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy or work as a physician assistant. Each road has its own test, and the names change, but the biology underneath them is the same course you are in right now.
That matters because students often learn a topic for this semester’s exam and lose the context for why it was taught. Signal transduction, the electron transport chain and protein trafficking will come back on the MCAT, the DAT, the PA-CAT and the TEAS, and later on licensing exams. I want you to know that now, and to have one page you can come back to when you start preparing.
Which test goes with which career
Requirements change, and every program sets its own, so check each school before you apply. This table is accurate as of October 2026, from the testing organizations’ own pages.
| Career | Admission test | The biology it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Physician (MD or DO) | MCAT | A whole section, Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, plus biology inside the chemistry and psychology sections. The content categories (1A, 2A, 3A and so on) are listed in the inventory below. |
| Podiatric physician | MCAT or DAT; a few colleges also take the OAT | The same as the MCAT or DAT |
| Dentist | DAT | 40 biology items in the Survey of the Natural Sciences: cell and molecular biology, diversity of life, structure and function of systems, genetics, evolution and ecology |
| Optometrist | OAT | 40 biology items in the same five areas as the DAT |
| Physician assistant | PA-CAT or the GRE, depending on the program | The PA-CAT has 240 questions; general biology, biochemistry, microbiology, anatomy, physiology and genetics make up most of them. The GRE has no biology. |
| Nurse (RN programs) | ATI TEAS, or the HESI A2 at some schools | TEAS Science: 44 scored questions, including 18 on anatomy and physiology and 9 on biology (cell structure and function, genes to proteins, Mendel, macromolecules, microorganisms in disease) |
| Physical therapist (DPT) | The GRE at some programs: 37% require it and 13% list it as optional in the 2027 PTCAS cycle | None on the test itself; the GRE is verbal, quantitative and writing. Your biology prerequisites carry the weight, and the licensing exam after school builds on them. |
| Pharmacist | No national test: the PCAT was retired on January 10, 2024 | Schools look at your prerequisite courses instead |
After school come licensing exams: the USMLE or COMLEX for physicians, the NCLEX for nurses, and board exams for dentists, PAs and therapists. They test the same foundations applied to patients. A later update of this page will map them too.
How to use these tools if you are headed for one of these exams
- Predict before you press. Every step in the animations asks you a question first. Answer it, and commit. Being wrong with confidence is how the right answer sticks.
- Explain it out loud, or on paper, without looking. One sentence for the whole process. If you cannot say it, you do not have it yet.
- Draw it from memory. Sketch the pathway, label it, then check it against the figure. These exams reward people who can rebuild a mechanism, not people who recognize one.
- Come back to it. Once this semester, again before the final, and again the year you prepare for your exam. Spaced practice beats one long session.
- Read it as an experiment. The MCAT and DAT ask what happens when something is blocked, missing or changed. Some tools, like The Protein Route, let you block a step and watch what piles up. Do that on purpose.
- Use the practice questions. The Checkpoint Companion and the self-checks answer every question with the reasoning, and with a link to where to study.
How the utility score works
Each tool gets 0 to 3 points on four questions, for a total out of 12.
| Question | What earns the points |
|---|---|
| C · Coverage | 3 when an exam outline names the topic itself; 2 when it sits inside a named category; 1 when it is background |
| D · Depth | 1 for vocabulary; 2 for the mechanism; 3 for reasoning about an experiment or data, the way exam passages are written |
| R · Retrieval | 0 for watching; 1 for a check at the end; 2 for a prediction before each step; 3 for answering first and getting the reasoning back |
| U · Reuse | 1 for a single page; 2 when it remembers your progress or links to each question; 3 when you can open any step directly, with stills or video to come back to |
These are first-pass scores from October 2026. I revise a tool’s score each time I rebuild it, and the rebuilds follow the research in Predict, Then Press, Sometimes.
The inventory
MCAT codes come from the AAMC’s outline of the exam. The DAT and OAT share five biology areas; the TEAS and PA-CAT columns name the part of each test the tool serves.
Molecules, enzymes and energy
| Tool | MCAT | DAT / OAT | TEAS / PA-CAT | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Macromolecule Patch (Bio Tool #17): build and split polymers, test real foods | 1A protein structure, peptide linkage; 1B nucleotides; 1D carbohydrates | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology: macromolecules · PA-CAT biochemistry | 10 (C3 D3 R2 U2) |
| The Water Patch (Bio Tool #10): hydrogen bonds, phases, protein folding, induced fit and catalysis | 5A water and its solutions; 1A enzymes, induced fit, activation energy, folding | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology and chemistry · PA-CAT biochemistry | 9 (C3 D2 R2 U2) |
| The Energy Patch (Bio Tool #11): photosynthesis and respiration, every carbon counted | 1D glycolysis, citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation (photosynthesis is not on the MCAT) | Cell and molecular biology | PA-CAT general biology and biochemistry | 8 (C2 D2 R2 U2) |
| Carbon Check (Bio Tool #3): 21 questions on carbon and the macromolecules | 1A, 1D | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology · PA-CAT biochemistry | 9 (C2 D2 R3 U2) |
| DE Biochemistry Crosswords (Bio Tool #4): 40 terms | 1A, 1D vocabulary | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology | 7 (C2 D1 R2 U2) |
Cells, membranes and moving proteins
| Tool | MCAT | DAT / OAT | TEAS / PA-CAT | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Protein Route (Bio Tool #18): insulin from nucleus to blood; block a stop and see what piles up | 2A nucleus, rough ER and secreted proteins, Golgi packaging and secretion, exocytosis | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology: cell structure, genes to proteins · PA-CAT general biology | 10 (C3 D3 R2 U2) |
| Cell Check (Bio Tool #13): self-check on cells and membranes | 2A organelles and membranes; 2B prokaryotic cells | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology: cell structure · PA-CAT general biology | 10 (C3 D2 R3 U2) |
| The Membrane Patch (Bio Tool #5): build a membrane, run the aquaporin and the Na⁺/K⁺ pump | 2A fluid mosaic model, sodium/potassium pump, membrane channels | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS anatomy and physiology · PA-CAT physiology | 9 (C3 D2 R2 U2) |
| Four Classes, One Membrane (Bio Tool #6): transport and a tonicity beaker | 2A passive and active transport, osmosis | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology · PA-CAT physiology | 7 (C3 D2 R1 U1) |
| The Membrane, Built From All Four (Bio Tool #7): eight-question self-check | 2A transport, fluid mosaic, intercellular junctions | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology · PA-CAT general biology | 7 (C3 D2 R1 U1) |
| DE Cell Structure Crosswords (Bio Tool #12): 84 terms | 2A, 2B vocabulary | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology | 8 (C3 D1 R2 U2) |
| Checkpoint Companion (Bio Tool #9): 48 questions for Checkpoints 3 and 4 | 1A, 1D, 2A, 2B | Cell and molecular biology | TEAS biology · PA-CAT general biology and biochemistry | 10 (C2 D2 R3 U3) |
Signals, hormones and the cell cycle
| Tool | MCAT | DAT / OAT | TEAS / PA-CAT | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Signal Patch (Bio Tool #15): GLP-1, exendin-4 and semaglutide in one pancreas cell | 3A mechanisms of hormone action; 1A enzyme specificity; 1D hormonal regulation of fuel metabolism | Structure and function of systems | TEAS anatomy and physiology · PA-CAT physiology and biochemistry | 9 (C2 D3 R2 U2) |
| The Signal Relay (Bio Tool #14): three receptor types and amplification | 3A biosignaling: G protein-coupled receptors, gated ion channels; hormone action | Structure and function of systems | TEAS anatomy and physiology · PA-CAT physiology | 7 (C3 D2 R1 U1) |
| The Cancer Pathway (Bio Tool #19): one cell to a second tumor, watch-only | 2C loss of cell cycle controls in cancer; 1B oncogenes and tumor suppressors | Cell and molecular biology; genetics | PA-CAT general biology and genetics | 6 (C2 D2 R0 U2) |
Coming next
The Mechanism Reel (Bio Tool #22) is six step-through animations built on the newer pattern. When each one goes live, it gets a row here.
- A G-protein-coupled receptor: MCAT 3A biosignaling and second messengers
- A receptor tyrosine kinase: MCAT 3A receptor enzymes
- A channel beside a pump: MCAT 2A solute transport and membrane potential
- The electron transport chain: MCAT 1D oxidative phosphorylation and chemiosmotic coupling
- The central dogma: MCAT 1B transcription, mRNA processing and translation
- Cloning a gene: MCAT 1B recombinant DNA, restriction enzymes and gene cloning
Sources, checked October 2026: AAMC, What’s on the MCAT Exam? · American Dental Association, DAT biology test specifications and Optometry Admission Test 2026 candidate guide · Exam Master, About the PA-CAT, and Michigan State University pre-health advising · ATI, TEAS 7 content outline · APTA, PTCAS application requirements summary · ETS, GRE General Test content · AACP, Retirement of the PCAT · AACPM, admission requirements.