Flora Watson (Biological Sciences), Ph.D., Adviser
Office: Naraghi Hall of Science 229
Phone: (209) 667-3483
Students planning to attend medical, dental, pharmacy, veterinary, optometry, chiropractic, physical therapy, physician assistant, clinical laboratory science, or podiatry schools are usually not required to complete a prescribed undergraduate major, although most do. In general, students interested in a health profession major in biological sciences or chemistry. There are courses that are required to be completed before applying to the professional schools.
Course Requirements
The minimum requirement for admission to most health professional schools is completion of at least 90 semester units; however, a bachelor’s degree is recommended. In addition, requirements for a specific professional school may differ from one school to another. Therefore, it is highly recommended that students, while preparing for admission, examine the requirements of their prospective professional schools and, with the assistance of their major adviser, design a program of study.
Experience
It is critical for students to have special health-related experience in addition to their coursework. The experience should have direct patient contact or other interpersonal involvement. The professional schools want to know if the applicants have first-hand knowledge of the realities of a career in a health profession. An undergraduate internship in an appropriate health profession setting is a recommended way to achieve this “real world” experience.
In some situations, experience plays a significant role in the admission selection process. Academic credit may be received for such experiences. Research experience may be useful to some students, but it is not a major requirement for admission to some of the health professions. Consult your major adviser and a member of the Pre-health Professions Committee.
Professional Admission Tests
It is to the student’s advantage to complete the core curriculum and additional electives before taking the professional admissions test, such as MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), DAT (Dental Admission Test), PCAT (Pharmacy College Admission Test), OAT (Optometry Admission Test), or GRE (Graduate Record Exam for Veterinary School Admission). Application forms, packets, and information are available through the Pre-health Professions Committee. Most professional schools require that all the prerequisite courses be completed by June of the year of intended enrollment.
Pre-health Professions Committee
A Pre-health Professions Committee provides academic advising and assistance to students who are preparing and applying to health professional schools. Questions regarding pre-health profession preparation and application may be directed to the committee via the Department of Biological Sciences at (209) 667-3476.
