Health Professions Advising Guidelines

Guidelines for:

• Medicine (allopathic and osteopathic)
• Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, Podiatry, Optometry
• Nursing, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy

There are many paths that you can take on your journey to a health professional school. While a core of science and English courses are required, any academic major is acceptable. Many students apply to these programs between their junior and senior years of college; others decide to wait until they have finished college before applying. The latter is especially appealing for students who choose to spend a semester or year abroad. Others choose to wait in order to do graduate work in a field of interest or to take time for such experiences as the Peace Corps, Americorp, or a job in the medical field. While your academic work in the sciences is, of course, important, it is also important to develop strong verbal skills and a greater appreciation of ideas and cultures. Hence, your work in the humanities and social sciences is also very important.

Pre-Health Core Course Requirements

Subjects and Corresponding Allegheny Courses

Biology (with labs)--10 credits

• Biology 220, 221, FSBIO 201

General chemistry (with labs)--8 or 10 credits

• Chemistry 110, 112 OR
• Chemistry 101, 102 and 116 OR
• Chemistry 111, 115, 116

Organic chemistry (with labs)--9 or 10 credits

• Chemistry 231, 232 and (234 or 236)

Physics (with labs)--8 credits

• Physics 101, 102 or 110, 112

English (including composition)--8-12 credits

FS 102, Eng 200 AND one of the following:

• Any English 200, 300, 400 level (except 205, 206, 207, 400, 401, 402)
• Or any History 100, 200, or 300 level
• Or any Political Science 200 or 300 level
• Or any Philosophy 200, 300, or 400 level
• Or any Religious Studies 200, 300, or 400 level

Additional courses may be required by individual schools. This is especially true of veterinary, physician assistant and allied health programs. Students should be aware of this and investigate any schools in which they have a particular interest.

Some of these occasionally required/strongly recommended courses are:

• Mathematics (through Calculus)
• Biochemistry or Molecular Biology (Chem 353, Bio 305)
• Behavioral/Social Science
• Statistics (Bio 385 or Psych 206)
• Humanities Cell Biology (Bio 320)

Please note:

• AP Credit: If the student has received AP credit for any of the required courses, he/she should take an additional, upper level course in that area. AP credit is rarely accepted by the professional schools.
• Credit/No Credit: NO required core course should be taken on a credit/no credit basis. All required core courses must be taken for a grade.
• Timing: It is very important that the required courses be taken by the end of the junior year, unless the student wishes to delay their application until after graduation. All core coursework should be completed before the student takes the MCAT, DAT, OAT, or GRE. Students need to begin taking required courses as soon as possible.
• Analytical Thinking and Writing: While the core curriculum emphasizes science, extensive work in humanities and social science courses requiring the analysis of written work and the writing of papers is especially helpful to Health Professions students.
• Study Abroad: Study abroad is a wonderful, enriching experience. Students are strongly encouraged, however, to take their pre-health core courses here at Allegheny. If you are considering taking core courses (especially science courses) abroad, you must contact Ms Peterson.

For more information, contact:

Health Professions Advisor: Ms. Kirsten Peterson

Health Professions Secretary: Ms. Jen Stivanson

Office/Library: Reis 102
Phone: 332-2846