HPA Office

Choosing Major

Acceptance Factors

Requirements

ABOUT HEALTH PROFESSIONS PREPARATION AT COLORADO COLLEGE

Preparation for a career in the health professions has been a tradition at Colorado College for many years.  The liberal arts education you can obtain at CC will be an advantage at most schools, especially the medical schools.

HOW MAY THE COLLEGE HEALTH PROFESSIONS OFFICE HELP YOU?

The Health Professions Advising Office, in the Olin Hall Fishbowl, is a place that you should visit if you are interested in pursuing any of the health professions.  You will find reading material of interest including magazines, reference books, books on preparing for health profession schools, health profession school catalogs and pamphlets, etc.  The Health Professions Advising Manager, Jane Byrnes and the Health Professions Advising Coordinator, Kate Cornelius, are there and will be happy to answer questions you may have.  Dr. Judith Reynolds, the College Medical Director at Boettcher Health Center, is always happy to talk to students about careers in the health professions.  We welcome the opportunity to discuss preparation for the health professions with any student.

The Health Professions Advising Office plans numerous meetings and activities for students during the year.  The first important meeting is scheduled as part of the New Student Orientation early in the year.  This meeting is intended to outline the health professions program at Colorado College and introduce the HPA office and personnel.  Other meetings are designed to help students with application procedures and test preparation, while others include various speakers and an occasional field trip.

CHOOSING AN ACADEMIC MAJOR IN COLLEGE:

For students interested in medical and dental schools, the choice of the academic major is not particularly important.  The schools today are concerned that applicants be broadly educated people with significant exposure to course work in the humanities and social sciences.  Of course the applicant must have taken and done well in the basic science courses that serve as background for the work in those professional schools, but there is no basis for assuming that majoring in Biology or Chemistry will place one at an advantage for acceptance into Medical, Dental or Veterinary schools.  At Colorado College, students have majored in English, Art, Economics, Psychology, Mathematics, Anthropology, Political Science and Philosophy, as well as Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Veterinary schools may emphasize a science major requirement, or they may tend to favor graduates with a science degree. It is worth examing the admissions policy of any veterinary schools of interest.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE ACCEPTANCE:

There are four primary factors that determine the success of an application to health profession schools, particularly medical and dental schools:

1. An undergraduate GPA of well above 3.0 is a must to be considered by most medical schools.  However, a GPA of 3.5 is a more realistic goal for a competitive application.

2. Scores on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), Dental Admissions Test (DAT), Veterinary Aptitude Test (VAT)/GRE or other such tests for the specific health profession school.  The average MCAT score for medical school acceptance in recent years has been above 9.0.

3. Letters of evaluation from the College's health professions advising committee, faculty members, administrators or staff, as well as from persons outside the college who know the applicant well.

4. The professional school interview.The GPA and the MCAT are usually weighed more heavily during initial screening, but once these two academic ability factors are deemed satisfactory by admissions committees, the letters of evaluation and interview become all important for the final committee decision.

ACADEMIC ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOOLS:

Medical and many dental schools are quite standardized as far as academic entrance requirements are concerned.  The following CC courses will meet the basic requirements for most medical and dental schools:

Biology: Two courses -- any introductory Biology course (BY 10X) and BY 210 (Cell Biology) will usually satisfy requirements, but this is a bare minimum and most students will take more advanced Biology course work to prepare for the MCAT or DAT.

Chemistry: Four courses -- CH 107 and CH 108 (General Chemistry I and II), & CH 250 (Structures of Organic Molecules) and CH 251 (Reactions of Organic Molecules).  An additional Chemistry course that is often recommended is CH 382 (Biochemistry I).

Physics: Two courses -- PC 141 and PC 142 (Introductory Physics I and II) or PC 241 and PC 242 (Introductory Classical Physics I and II).  The latter two courses require calculus and are the courses required for students majoring in the physical sciences - math, physics or chemistry.  However, the non-calculus physics, 141 and 142, will satisfy prerequisite requirements for all health professions schools.

English: Many medical schools will require at least one literature course and some require an English composition course in addition.  Our CC students usually get enough writing experience in courses other than English so that most medical schools are satisfied and will waive the specific English composition requirement, but NOT the literature course.

Mathematics: Two courses -- MA 126 (Calculus I) and MA 128 (Calculus II), or MA 125 (Pre-Calculus & Calculus) and MA 126 (Calculus I) or any two college level courses, including statistics classes.

A course in behavioral science (for example Psychology) is highly required at some schools.

Advanced coursework in Biology and Chemistry will always help in preparation for qualifying exams for all Health Professions Schools.

Veterinary schools may emphasize a science major requirement, or they may tend to favor graduates with a science degree. It is worth examing the admissions policy of any veterinary schools of interest.

To determine the specific course requirements for a particular medical school or dental school, reference books available in the Health Professions Advising office should be consulted.  The MCAT, DAT and GRE tests cover basic science so the above courses should be completed before taking any of the tests. The MCAT is administrated on a set schedule with several administrations through the calendar year. See www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start for registration and calendar.

Other health professions schools, including Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, Podiatry, Physical Therapy, Optometry, Pharmacy, and Physician Assistant programs, are likely to have other specific course requirements and they are not as standardized as Medical and Dental school requirements.  Therefore it is important to consult brochures or catalogs from the specific schools before completing plans for an academic program in college.  Students who are interested in PHYSICAL THERAPY and PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT program should contact Bruce Kola, the Physical Therapy and PA advisor in the Sports Science and Physical Education department in El Pomar Sports Center at CC.

Many students today are waiting a year or more after graduation before applying to a health professions school.  This does not put the applicant at a disadvantage by any means.  Many medical schools look favorably upon applicants who have taken an extra year or two to mature, gain some work experience, and thus make a better decision regarding a career in health professions.