The Medical College Admissions Test strives to assess those specific skills that are predictive of future performance in medical school and on medical licensing examinations. Each of the four sections of the MCAT has been designed to measure specific knowledge and skills.

In the Physical Sciences section, for instance, students will be asked to demonstrate knowledge in the following areas of chemistry: electronic structure; the periodic table; bonding; phases and phase equilibria; stoichiometry; thermodynamics and thermochemistry; rate processes in chemical reactions; acids and bases; solution chemistry; and electrochemistry.

The Physical Sciences section will also ask candidates to demonstrate knowledge in the following areas of physics: translational motion; force, motion, and gravitation; equilibrium and momentum; work and energy; waves and periodic motion; electrostatics and electromagnetism; sound; fluids and solids; electronic circuit elements; light and geometrical optics; and atomic and nuclear structure.

In the Biological Sciences section of the MCAT, candidates will be required to demonstrate knowledge of the following areas of biology: molecular biology, enzymes, and metabolism; DNA and protein synthesis; eukaryotes; microbiology; the generalized eukaryotic cell; specialized eukaryotic cells and tissues; the nervous and endocrine systems; the circulatory, lymphatic, and immune systems; the respiration system; the skin system; the digestive and excretory systems; the muscle and skeletal systems; the reproductive systems and general issues of development; and evolution.

The Biological Sciences section will also ask candidates to demonstrate knowledge of the following areas of organic chemistry: covalent bonds; molecular structures and spectra; separations and purifications; hydrocarbons; oxygen-containing compounds; amines; and biological molecules.

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