Pre-Health Professions Program

College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences

Pre-health professions are careers involved in direct patient care. These healthcare professionals typically work in a hospital or clinical environment or work directly with clinicians in private settings.

Common healthcare careers include, but are not limited to, medicine (MD, DO, ND), dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, nursing, physician associate, optometry, radiologic technology, veterinary technician, physical therapy, occupational therapy, podiatric medicine, and chiropractic. While there are generalizations regarding preparation for patient care careers, requirements vary between professional training programs and institutions, so it is recommended to work with the pre-health advisor for career counseling.

Pre-Health Advising

Pre-health career counseling is available for current undergraduate and graduate CSU Dominguez Hills students, regardless of the degree program they are completing. The pre-health advisor can support students as they explore potential career options, understand admission requirements, seek guidance on personal statements, and strategize the approach to application cycles. Pre-health advising is voluntary, so students choose how often to meet with the advisor.

To schedule an appointment, contact the Pre-Health Advisor, Dr. Helen Chun, at hchun@csudh.edu or contact the Biology Department at 310-243-3381 for assistance in obtaining an appointment.

Major Selection

Most graduate or professional careers require a bachelor’s degree for admission into training programs but do not require a specific major. For those careers that do not require a bachelor’s degree to practice, it is highly recommend having one. There is no Pre-Health major at CSU Dominguez Hills. Common majors that pre-health students graduate from are biology, biochemistry, psychology, health science, clinical science, exercise science, human services, and biophysics, however any major is accepted when applying for these training programs. Several programs require multiple STEM courses as admission requirements which is why many pre-health students graduate with STEM degrees, but this area of study may not be for everyone. Students who are not STEM majors may choose to declare a STEM minor, such as the organic/biochemistry or biology minors. A "well rounded" education is viewed favorably by many health professional school admissions committees, so even STEM majors should focus on a broad liberal arts education that includes the humanities, fine arts, and social and behavioral sciences. At CSU Dominguez Hills, completion of general education requirements fulfills this.

Prerequisite Course Requirements

Admission requirements vary between different professional programs and the institutions that host those programs. Most programs have restrictions on online prerequisite courses other than coursework completed during the pandemic (2020-2022). In-person laboratory courses are often required, while other programs require all prerequisites to be completed in-person. Many programs also apply expiration dates to requirements. It is strongly advised that students independently review the requirements and recommendations of potential programs to be aware of the unique standards for each.

Nursing

There are many careers within the nursing field, including registered nurse, nurse practitioner, and doctorate in nursing practice. Pre-nursing students are encouraged to explore all to determine which pathway aligns best with their professional goals. While CSU Dominguez Hills does not offer a traditional bachelor’s program in nursing, there are multiple educational options that lead to a nursing career. It is strongly advised to schedule a pre-health advising appointment to strategize on the most suitable pathway.

Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Podiatric Medicine

The following courses are typically required; however slight variations may apply.

• 1 year general biology with lab
  BIO 120 and BIO 121, Principles of Biology I
  BIO 122 and BIO 123, Principles of Biology II
• 1 year general chemistry with lab
  CHE 110, General Chemistry  I
  CHE 112, General Chemistry II
• 1 year organic chemistry with lab
  CHE 310 and CHE 311, Organic Chemistry I
  CHE 312 and CHE 313, Organic Chemistry II
• 1 year physics with lab
  PHY 120, Elements Of Physics I
  PHY 122, Elements Of Physics II or
  PHY 130, General Physics I
  PHY 132, General Physics II
• 1 semester biochemistry lecture (medical school requirement)
  CHE 450, Biochemistry
• 1 semester or year college math
  MAT 131, Elementary Statistics and Probability
  MAT 171, Survey of Calculus for Management and Life Sciences, or
  MAT 191, Calculus I
• 1 semester or year college English composition
  ENG 110, Freshman Composition Accelerated
• 1 semester social science (typically psychology)
  PSY 101, General Education Psychology
• 1 semester hands-on art course (dentistry requirement)
  
  Recommended courses

• Conversational Spanish (strongly recommended for CA and TX programs)
• General microbiology with lab
• Human anatomy with lab
• Human physiology with lab
• Upper division cellular and molecular biology, endocrinology, immunology, genetics, developmental biology
• Upper division ecology or animal physiology courses (veterinary medicine)

Physician Associate (formerly physician assistant) and Optometry

Many but not all pre-medicine requirements are shared with programs that train physician associates and optometrists. The following are typically required, however there is greater variation among these programs. Note that all physician associate programs apply expiration dates to many or all prerequisite courses.

• 1 year biology with laboratory
• 1 year of general chemistry with laboratory
• 1 semester or year of organic chemistry with laboratory
  CHE 316 and 317, Survey of Organic Chemistry (1 semester requirement)
• General Microbiology with laboratory
  BIO 326 and BIO 327, General Microbiology
• 1 semester human anatomy with laboratory
• 1 semester human physiology with laboratory
• 1 semester psychology
• 1 semester medical terminology

Non-Academic Requirements, Experiences and Skills

In addition to course requirements, there often are non-academic requirements for admissions. While these vary between the various professional careers, the standards are shared between specific types of training programs. Such requirements may include clinical/patient experience, observations of specific health professionals, and mastery of conversational Spanish (especially for CA or TX programs).

Admission exams are required for medicine (MCAT, maybe PREview), dentistry (DAT), or GRE (various). For many graduate and professional programs, admission exams are no longer required. While all admission processes require submission of letters of recommendation, some professional career programs request letters from specific individuals.

In addition to completing admission requirements, pre-health students may wish to expand on their preparation for their future health profession. Relevant work experiences include, but are not limited to, clinical experiences, shadow of healthcare professionals, scientific or clinical research, leadership, and community service.

All health professionals are expected to have well-developed essential skills to prepare for the complexity of their work. These skills, typically strengthened while completing the undergraduate degree, are critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical thinking, communication (written and verbal), collaboration, digital literacy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. Pre-health students have the opportunity to mature these skills while completing degree programs at CSU Dominguez Hills.

Helpful Resources

Pre-Health Advisor: Dr. Helen Chun, hchun@csudh.edu, 310-243-3381 (Biology Department)

Healthcare professions: https://explorehealthcareers.org/
Dentistry: https://www.adea.org/GoDental/
Medicine (MD): https://www.aamc.org/
Medicine (DO): https://www.aacom.org/
Nursing: https://www.aacnnursing.org/
Occupational Therapy: https://www.aota.org/
Optometry: https://optometriceducation.org/
Radiologic Technology: https://www.asrt.org/
Pharmacy: https://www.aacp.org/
Physical Therapy: https://www.apta.org/
Physician Associate: https://paeaonline.org/
Podiatric Medicine: https://aacpm.org/
Veterinary Medicine: https://www.aavmc.org/

Preparation

It is strongly advised that the student check with individual schools/programs for their requirements and recommendations as some schools may have specific requirements.

The following list represents some general requirements.

Pre-Health Courses

Required courses

• 1 year general biology with lab (e.g. BIO 120 Principles of Cells and Molecules/BIO 122 Principles of Biodiversity)
• 1 year general chemistry with lab (e.g. CHE 110 General Chemistry I/CHE 112 General Chemistry II)
• 1 year organic chemistry with lab (e.g. CHE 310 Organic Chemistry I/CHE 311 Organic Chemistry Laboratory I/CHE 312 Organic Chemistry II/CHE 313 Organic Chemistry Laboratory II)
• 1 year college math- some schools require statistics while others may require calculus (e.g. MAT 171 Survey of Calculus for Management and Life Sciences or MAT 191 Calculus I)
• 1 year physics with lab (e.g. PHY 120 Elements Of Physics I/PHY 122 Elements Of Physics II or PHY 130 General Physics I/PHY 132 General Physics II)
• 1 year college English (composition)

Recommended courses

• Biochemistry, some require the lab (e.g. CHE 450 Biochemistry I/CHE 451 Biochemistry Laboratory I) while others do not require the lab- the lecture is strongly recommended, especially for students taking the MCAT
• Spanish (particularly for CA and TX schools, but others may also recommend) – strongly recommended
• Cellular and molecular biology, endocrinology, microbiology, immunology, genetics, developmental biology, psychology represent some other recommended courses
• Several programs require a human anatomy course (with lab) and a human physiology course (with lab), neither of which are offered here at CSUDH

Other possible recommendations

• Dentistry – psychology (may be required), sculpture or fine arts or drafting
• Optometry – psychology (made be required), physiology, neurophysiology
• Veterinary – animal/human nutrition, vertebrate physiology
• Pharmacy – economics and composition (often required); experience in a pharmacy
• Osteopathic medicine – A letter of recommendation from a D.O. (sometimes required)

Additional Experiences that strengthen an application

• Scientific research
• Hospital/health care volunteer services, e.g. COPE Program, Atlantis Project

It is critical that the student speak to the Pre-health advisor to not only discuss a specific career plan but also to better prepare their application regarding such things as a personal statement, obtaining letters of recommendation and choosing schools. Also it is advisable to join the student Pre-health Society (PHS) to participate in activities related to the health professions. However, in addition, the student must familiarize themselves with as much information as possible regarding not only the health professional schools but also about the career itself. An excellent resource for researching health careers is www.explorehealthcareers.org.