GENERAL INFO
  Admissions
  Faculty

PRE-PROFESSIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

Science Building
206-281-2797
www.spu.edu/depts/biology/preprofessional3.asp

Cynthia L. Fitch, Coordinator, Department of Biology

Seattle Pacific University offers faculty advising for a number of pre-professional health programs (PPHS) that prepare students to transfer and/or gain acceptance into professional health programs at other institutions.

Pre-Medicine and Pre-Dentistry
It is important to stress that medicine and dentistry are recognized as areas in the healing arts. As such, they are best served by practitioners well grounded in the liberal arts, human sciences, and the pure sciences. Strong competition exists for admission to these professional schools, especially in medicine, and it is important to obtain advising from the coordinator of premedicine and predentistry to plan a strong program. To become a competitive candidate, a student must be well acquainted with the requirements and procedures as outlined below.

There are several factors considered by medical and dental selection committees. They include the following: the student’s grades; the MCAT or DAT scores; a letter of evaluation from the pre-professional health science committee; other support letters; clinical and/or research experience; and an interview with the medical or dental school admissions committee.

Medical School Admissions Checklist

First two college years

1. Select a curriculum that will challenge your abilities and interest in the liberal arts and the basic sciences and fulfill more than minimum premedical requirements. Be sure that other courses taken are in areas of interest that will usually be reflected in a good performance and will enhance your liberal arts background. There is no required or recommended major. Select your major in the field that interests you the most — make it a genuine choice.
2. Get to know the PPHS coordinator and the advisory committee faculty. Speak with students who are juniors and seniors and learn of their experiences.
3. Involve yourself with extracurricular commitments that are of interest to you, reflect your interest in medicine, and demonstrate service to the community.
4. Develop friendships with members of the faculty who share common interests with you. This will enable them to better function in a support capacity during your application process.
5. Learn as much as you can about medicine from physicians, medical students, local hospitals, etc.
6. Try to achieve an outstanding undergraduate record and grade point average. Should you do poorly in an area, repeat the course or take a similar upper-level course to demonstrate your ability.
7. Arrange with the PPHS coordinator and/or clinicians in the area that interests you to observe medicine or dentistry first hand. These observations will probably be volunteer hours. A significant number of these hours are expected by admissions committees to demonstrate that you clearly understand the expectations of the profession.

Third year

1. Continue to improve or maintain a high academic performance.
2. Obtain a copy of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Medical School Admission Requirements or the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools. Study its contents and make note of any changes or new schools of medicine that may have new entering classes (also see www.aamc.org or www.adea.org).
3. Prepare for the MCAT or DAT (you may choose to enroll in special courses taught to improve test taking).
4. Discuss your relative chances of entrance to medical/dental school with your PPHS coordinator and other members of the faculty who you hold in high regard. Be realistic! If your chances appear to be excellent, visit and talk to schools of your interest. Speak to their students to learn about the curriculum design and general attitudes. DO NOT take the MCAT or DAT just to see what it is about or “for practice.” The record of your test-taking attempts follows for ALL subsequent applications.
5. Carefully assess your chances for entrance into medical or dental school. Research particular schools that interest you and where you think you might have a better chance of admission.
6. If you are prepared to take the MCAT, apply in early winter to take the test given in April (www.aamc.org/students/mcat). If your MCAT scores are poor or only average consider retaking the test in August. Take the DAT in the summer following your junior year. Register here.
7. In the spring of your junior year, make arrangements with the PPHS coordinator to have an interview with your PPHS advisory committee. Upon request, the committee will provide an appropriate letter of recommendation for you to the schools to which you apply. Letters from outside sources are due to the coordinator in the summer following your junior year.
8. At the end of your junior year, write your personal statement and begin the central application process. The medical school primary application is called AMCAS (www.aamc.org/students/amcas/start.htm) for domestic M.D. granting institutions, AACOMAS (aacomas.aacom.org) for domestic D.O. granting institutions, and AADSAS (www.adea.org/AADSAS) for the dental school primary application.
9. Use the early summer to complete all application forms online. Submit your application early. Admissions to most of these schools is on a “rolling” admission basis. Adhering strictly to “apply by the deadline” is considered showing minimal interest and most often results in rejection.

Fourth year

1. Be sure that all necessary materials have been forwarded to AMCAS, AACOMAS, or AADSAS, or directly to the medical or dental schools of your interest as requested by these organizations. (i.e., transcripts, recommendations, and MCAT or DAT scores).
2. Complete all scholarship and loan applications as soon as possible. To be eligible for financial aid, you must complete the FAFSA form. Consider other means of financing if necessary.
3. In early Autumn Quarter, continue to evaluate your admission potential. You may decide to apply to additional medical schools. If so, be aware of their application deadline dates so that your application is eligible for consideration.
4. Notify your faculty members of selection for interview and dates that you need to travel and be away from your classes.
5. If you are admitted to the school of your choice, notify all other schools in which you are no longer interested as a courtesy to them.
6. As the school year progresses, send any additional items (such as first quarter grades) to the schools considering your application.
7. If you are placed on the waiting list, continue to add to your record all additional credits, honors, experiences, etc., to strengthen your application.
8. If you are admitted to medical school or dental school, forward your deposit and begin planning for housing and loans, etc.
9. If you are not admitted, consider and discuss alternatives with the PPHS coordinator.

A summary of procedure

1. Get to know the PPHS coordinator of premedicine and predentistry as soon as possible in your first year.
2. Arrange premedical or pre-dental volunteer experiences throughout your first two years.
3. Arrange for a pre-professional health science committee interview and committee evaluation letter before you submit your AMCAS, AACOMAS, or AADSAS application. (Spring Quarter is the time of year for PPHS committee interviews.)
4. Take the MCAT in either April of your junior year or August of your senior year. Take the DAT in the summer after your junior year.
5. Submit your application to medical or dental school during the summer between your junior and senior years.

General Coursework for Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental
Since specific requirements vary from school to school, students should become familiar with the specific requirements of the medical or dental schools to which they intend to apply. However, nearly all medical and dental schools have at least the following minimal expectations:

Additional science courses are strongly recommended in anatomy, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, genetics, histology, physical chemistry, and physiology. Some medical schools also suggest a knowledge of calculus. All applicants must complete a minimum of 135 quarter credit hours (three years) of academic work. However, with the increasing competition to enter medical and dental schools, it is rare for applicants to be admitted with less than four years of undergraduate work and a bachelor�s degree.

Pre-Physical Therapy
In order to meet American Physical Therapy Association accreditation standards, all physical therapy educational programs are required to lead to a doctorate degree (a few schools still have a master�s program). The master�s degree is being replaced with the doctorate. Therefore, students seeking admission to a physical therapy educational program need to complete a bachelor�s degree in any field, plus include the following prerequisite coursework:

Total Pre-Optometry
The need for a well-trained doctor of optometry is increasing. Admission committees for four-year programs leading to the doctor of optometry consider the following factors: strength and breadth of academic record, OAT scores, evidence of work (paid or volunteer) under the supervision of a professional in optometry, extra curricular activities and community service, and strength of recommendations and on-campus interviews. (Contact each optometry school for its admission packet.)

Enrollments are limited and admission is selective. All preoptometry courses must be completed before entering a college of optometry. The following represents a minimum pre-optometry program:

Pre-Pharmacy
These recommendations are for persons desiring to enter pharmacy as a profession. Currently, the entry degree into pharmacy is the doctorate of pharmacy. Pre-pharmacy students must have a sound background in math and science, which can be accomplished by majoring in either biology, chemistry, or biochemistry. Good communication skills are important, as is a broad general education in the social sciences and humanities. The pre-pharmacy program required by schools of pharmacy is a minimum of two years.

The following is a list of courses often required by many of the schools of pharmacy. One should check the individual school of pharmacy to get the specific requirements and also check with the pre-health science advisor. Applications to pharmacy schools begin with a central application.

Pre-Veterinary
These recommendations are for persons desiring to enter veterinary medicine as a profession, resulting in the D.V.M. (doctorate in veterinary medicine). Competition is intense to gain acceptance to veterinary medicine. Applications to veterinary medicine schools begin with a central application. Students seeking admission to a veterinary medicine educational program need to complete a bachelor�s degree in any field, plus include the following prerequisite coursework:

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