Preparation for medical, dental, pharmacy, physical therapy, and physician assistant careers: Helping students gain a competitive edge

Journal of College Admission, Summer 2002 by Elam, Carol L, Seaver, Daniel C, Berres, Peter N, Brandt, Barbara F

Introduction

Each year, a large number of students begin college with aspirations of entering a health profession. High school teachers and guidance counselors as well as college admission counselors and pre-- health advisors can assist students by providing current information regarding general entrance requirements to health professions programs. This paper is designed to provide both counselors and teachers with information that will assist them in helping students plan programs of study in college and seek relevant health-related experiences. We offer suggestions on to how to seek information about health professions and obtain first-hand exposure to the work responsibilities of practitioners. We will describe the admission processes of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and physician assistant programs. To that end, we will review degrees available, required college course work, and application procedures and time frames. We will also discuss the importance of standardized tests, interviews, and letters of evaluation in the application process and in the admission decisions.

Seeking Information

If considering a health career, students should begin investigating health professions programs as early as possible in their high school or collegiate education. To gather preliminary information about health careers and health professions education, students can write to health professions schools for publications or browse health professions web sites. To develop an understanding of the work responsibilities and lifestyle issues of various health care providers, students should speak with health professionals practicing in their field of interest. To test their motivation for a health career and their predisposition to work in a patient care environment, students may choose to participate in clinical observation experiences as volunteers or enroll in either clinical summer enrichment programs or service-based curricular experiences in health care settings.

College counselors should work to facilitate contacts between prospective students and health profession advisors on their campuses. Interactions with pre-health advisors can help undergraduate students learn what they must accomplish both inside and outside of the classroom to become competitive applicants to health professions schools. Students thinking of applying to health professions schools in the future must have a sense of when they need to apply and what they need to do to be eligible and competitive for admission. Advisors and teachers can assist students in seeking information on prerequisite course work to take in college as well as selection criteria and application time lines for health professions programs. There are currently 125 medical schools, 54 dental schools, 84 pharmacy schools, 214 schools of physical therapy, and 120 physician assistant programs across the United States. It is important to recognize that admission requirements and procedures will not only differ across health care fields, but will also differ across institutions within the same health care field.

Seeking Exposure to the Professions

Nearly all health professions programs advocate that future applicants seek experiences in health settings to help them determine whether they are well suited to work in their selected field. Often admission committees want applicants to have significant exposure to the profession through observation or work experience. Medical, dental, pharmacy, physical therapy, and physician assistant admission officers encourage prospective applicants to talk to practitioners about their work, shadow them in the office, hospital, clinic, or dispensary, or volunteer in a health care facility. Such experiences should provide the applicant with a realistic perspective to confirm his or her reasons for entering the profession and to gain insight into the professional and personal challenges faced by current practitioners.

As part of their application process to health professions programs, students may be asked during the admission interview to describe their clinical experiences gained as high school or college students, or to write about those clinical insights in an application essay. Some health professions programs will want applicants to document their time spent in practices. At a minimum, most admission committees expect that students will have knowledge of the profession, will understand the role of their selected profession in the health care delivery system, and will have a sense of the ethical and legal issues confronted by practitioners.

High school teachers and counselors can help students learn about health care professions by organizing and sponsoring pre-health professions clubs where students can meet individual practitioners or participate in field experiences in health care settings. Teachers and counselors may also be able to arrange for prospective students to speak with current health professions students to find out what their educational experience in professional school is like. Once they enter college, students should consider joining pre-professions activity clubs or honoraries as such groups often organize opportunities to explore health careers. Prospective students should also explore the many career options that they have in the health professions. Besides working as a general practitioner in any of the five fields, students can seek specialty training, or can become health researchers, faculty in health professions schools, or administrators of medical services in community, hospital, managed care, or industrial settings