Opportunities for Pre-Health Students

The following are recommended experiences for students planning to pursue careers in health professions.

Pre Medical:

• Clinical internship with patient contact
• Volunteer in a nursing home - direct patient contact
• Shadowing physicians - observing both office practice, hospital rounds, surgery
• EMT - emergency room and ambulance work
• Day care, camp, playground - working directly with children
• Any "hands-on" work with disabled people

Pre Physician Assistant:

• Same as above, but include shadowing with a physician assistant
• First aid, CPR, EMT, or nursing training is highly prized and often required

Pre Dental:

• Shadowing in a dental office
• Shadowing in a specialist's office (endo-, perio-, ortho- dontist, oral surgeon)
• Enhancement of fine motor skills - sculpture, model building, fine needlework, tying flies, tool & die work, etc
• General experience with people - camp counseling, waiting tables, sports, tutoring

Pre Veterinary:

• Work with animals!
• Work (volunteer) on a farm, dog sit, work at a kennel
• Volunteer at an animal shelter or humane society
• Volunteer with wildlife (such as at the Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation Center)
• Shadow veterinarians - preferably both small and large animal
• Volunteer at a zoo or animal park

Pre Physical Therapy:

• 200+ hours of hands on PT paid or volunteer work in a variety of settings - hospital, private practice, clinic, rehab, work hardening
• First Aid and CPR certification
• Volunteer with disabled people (Special Olympics, exercise therapy, summer camps, special day care

Pre Occupational Therapy:

• Volunteer or paid experience in at least two different OT settings - one treating primarily physical problems, one treating primarily psychiatric problems
• Craft experience - preferably a variety of skills in crafting
• Camp counseling, especially with disabled campers
• Any "assisted daily living" experience - any age group