Beyond the 1st Year

The specific course selection and sequencing of courses after the freshman
year varies widely among students. Some examples of course schedules are provided
in Sample Course Schedules.

Humanities/Social Science Coursework. Some health professions schools have requirements for humanities/social science courses. The Trinity College curriculum is a balanced course of study that provides a liberal arts education, regardless of major. The Trinity College curriculum has been positively received by health professions schools. Medical schools in particular have stressed their desire to have incoming students broadly educated in humanities and social sciences. Moreover, health professions schools expect students to have an understanding of ethical questions that will arise in the profession and sensitivity to cultures other than their own. It can sometimes be challenging for Pratt students to achieve the breadth desired by health professions schools. If you are an engineering major, diversify your experience at Duke with your electives.

Upper Level Biology Courses. Although most health professions schools list a requirement for only two semesters (equivalent to an academic year) of biology, taking courses in upper level (UL) biology is important for several reasons. First, in upper level courses you will be introduced to a level of science similar to the scientific rigor you will experience in professional school course work. Second, you will continue to develop thinking and reasoning skills in science. These skills will be important to you not only in health professions school, but for the MCAT/DAT/GRE or other standardized tests as well. For this reason, we strongly urge all students to take at least one upper level biology course before taking the required standardized test for admission. We also suggest that non-science majors add further upper level biology courses, possibly even in the senior year (see sample schedules). BAA courses with lab will count as biology courses for the purpose of health professions schools; however, you should be aware that there is a good deal of genetics/cell biology/molecular biology, but no anatomy on most standardized tests required for admission.

Remember that most health professions schools will require you to have completed two biology courses with laboratory before you matriculate. Texas residents should make note that the University of Texas System schools require four semesters of biology (at least 2 with laboratory). A growing number of schools state that biochemistry is required or strongly recommended. These additional requirements can generally be met in the senior year, but you should be aware of them for your long range planning. Be sure to check the admission requirements books or go to individual school web sites for specific requirements for the schools in which you have an interest.

Timing of Science Courses. Medicine is a scientific discipline and health professions school coursework is therefore heavily weighted towards the sciences. Admissions committees will look for demonstrated ability to handle upper level science coursework. Since applicants generally apply to professional school during the summer between the junior and senior years, most successful applicants will have compiled a record of success in upper level science courses by the end of the junior year. You should confer with your academic advisor, prehealth advisor, and/or departmental advisor in choosing your course of study to meet these requirements.

Choosing a Major/Double Major/Minor. It is possible to major in any academic discipline and still complete the science courses required for health professions schools. Health Professions schools do not prefer one major over another major. Thus you should major in whatever area you find exciting and appealing. Health professions schools do value original scholarship in your field of choice. Consider doing an independent study in your major and writing a thesis during your senior year. While health professions schools value a curriculum that results in broadly educated applicants, they will evaluate your curriculum by looking at the courses that you take, rather than by simply looking for particular credentials such as second majors or minors. Completing two majors or a minor will not make you more competitive for a health professions program.

Certificate Programs. A number of certificate programs are offered in Trinity College and some of these are of particular interest to prehealth students, e. g., Global Health, Health Policy, Human Development, Neuroscience. Certificate programs can help to bring structure to the courses that you pursue in a particular area of interest. Therefore, you may want to consider them as you put together your long range plan.

Taking Science Courses as Pass/Fail or Audit. At Duke, the pass/fail option is designed to encourage students to take courses in areas unfamiliar to them. It is not intended simply to lighten a course load. The pass/fail option is not appropriate for any health professions school admission requirement including math and English. Think about it. There is no good answer to the question, “Why did you take biochemistry pass/fail?” You cannot repeat for credit a course previously audited at Duke or at another college or university. Therefore, you should be sure not to audit (at Duke or at any other college or university) any course that you might later need for a major, minor, or certificate, or as a prerequisite for medical or other professional schools.

Taking Admission Requirements away from Duke. Students who plan to spend a semester or year abroad, or who have made the decision to pursue admission to a health professions school later in their academic career may find it difficult to complete the required courses in time to take the standardized admissions test by the end of their junior year. Summer session at Duke is an acceptable way to complete prehealth coursework. Some students choose to take their prehealth courses at other institutions. However, if you choose to take at other institutions courses that are prerequisites for health professions schools, keep the following points in mind:

•  The course should be equivalent to that offered at Duke. You should obtain a course description, a syllabus, and the title of the textbook used and compare these with the corresponding Duke course. If you have questions, contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) in the Duke department in which the comparable course is taught for advice. You want to be sure that the course will help prepare you for the MCAT, DAT, GRE, or other standardized test. If the course is required for your major, e.g., physics for the BAA major, you need to be certain that your major department will accept the course you take at a different institution as fulfilling the major requirement.

•  You can transfer a maximum of two domestic credits from another four year, accredited US college or university. If the course is required for your major, as a prerequisite for another course at Duke, or for graduation requirements and you want to transfer it to Duke, you will need to follow the procedure for transferring work done elsewhere. You should receive tentative approval BEFORE taking the course to make sure it will meet the necessary requirements. See T-Reqs for forms and info.

•  If the course is not needed to fulfill requirements for Duke graduation or completion of your major, you may choose not to transfer the credit to Duke. However, keep in mind that you must submit to health professions schools a transcript from every college or university at which you have taken any coursework.

•  Duke students and graduates enjoy a very high rate of acceptance to health professions schools. One of the primary reasons for this is that admission committees recognize that Duke is a demanding undergraduate institution with rigorous courses. They would therefore prefer to see that you have taken all of your requirements at Duke. You may be asked by admission committees to justify your decision to take the course away from Duke. Acceptable reasons include financial considerations, a delayed decision to pursue the health professions, or taking the courses away in the summer in order to enable you to study abroad during the academic year.

When you apply to health professions schools/programs, you will be required to submit a transcript from any school at which you have attempted course work at the college level. This includes audits. As stated above, a student is not allowed to take a course for credit that he/she has previously audited at Duke or at another institution. We are aware that in the past several students have in fact audited a course in the summer at one institution, then subsequently enrolled in the same course for credit at Duke. Any student doing so risks losing credit for the Duke course if it is discovered that he/she did so. In addition, should you choose such a strategy, a health professions school will be aware of it and may consider it a lack of confidence on your part. This will not go far in convincing them that you can handle the level of coursework that you will see in professional school.

Independent Study. A good way to explore an interest in research is to complete an independent study. One of the advantages of being at a research university like Duke is that there are many opportunities to study with faculty in all departments including the basic science departments in the medical center. See your academic advisor, prehealth advisor, or faculty advisor to discuss this option and include it in your long range plan. Remember that selecting a mentor and setting up an independent study project takes time, so don’t wait until the beginning of a new semester to attempt to arrange this. Procedures for setting up an independent study course can be found on T-Reqs . To benefit fully from independent study in the sciences, you should plan on spending at least two semesters or a semester and a summer in the same laboratory. There are many opportunities to participate in research in laboratories at Duke and other institutions in the summers. For more information, go to Research Experience. Another good resource for how to set up an independent study can be found on the biology department web site at http://www.biology.duke.edu/undergrad/.

Graduating in Three Years. Students who arrive at Duke well prepared from high school and with more than 4 AP credits may be able to declare advanced standing and use those AP credits to graduate in 3 years. Some students are under the impression that health professions schools look favorably upon their finishing college early to begin professional school. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, most, if not all, Deans of Admission will readily state that they would prefer that applicants take the full four years to complete their undergraduate education. An applicant who is planning to complete college in three years and matriculate directly into health professions school will only have two years of a college record on which to base his/her credentials at the time of application (the summer before his/her last year). An application filed on only two years of college rather than three will almost certainly not be as rich as one filed after three years. If you are compelled by financial or other considerations to take advantage of your AP credits to graduate from Duke in three years, you should plan to take a gap year (to work or participate in a significant service activity) between undergraduate and professional school and apply to professional school the summer after you graduate. Using that strategy, your application will reflect three years of college work, rather than two.

Study Abroad. Health professions schools are interested in individuals who are broadly educated. To that end, experiences such as study abroad may be valued. But only if they are, in fact, broadening; that is, if you immerse yourself in learning about the culture and people of the country in which you study. In addition, you should not plan to take the stated prerequisite courses for health professions school abroad. Some medical schools, e.g., Duke, UNC, UVA, will not accept those courses taken at a foreign institution. This does not mean that you can’t or shouldn’t take science courses abroad. It is fine to take science courses that are not the prerequisite courses for health professions school, but rather courses beyond those deemed prerequisites. If you wish to study abroad, there are many different ways to arrange your prehealth courses to allow you to study abroad:

•  You can study abroad in the summer

•  You can take prehealth course work in the summer at Duke or at another institution

•  You can shift some of your prehealth course work into your senior year and delay your application to professional school

•  You can complete your prehealth requirements after you graduate from Duke

We offer some caution to anyone interested in spending an entire academic year abroad. Experience has shown that students who spend a full year abroad encounter at least two obstacles to applying to health professions schools in the summer or fall following that year abroad. First is the timing and/or preparation for the required standardized exam which is generally taken in the spring of the junior year. Although your exam may be given in a foreign country, it is doubtful that you will want to spend your free time in another country preparing for it. Second, if you are enrolled directly in a foreign institution (i.e., as opposed to participating in a study abroad program sponsored by Duke or another US institution) many health professions schools will not accept your foreign transcript. Thus, they will have only the first four semesters of your academic record on which to base the evaluation of your application. This does not mean that if you intend to go to health professions school you should not study abroad for a year. Rather, it means that if you want to study abroad for a full academic year, you should consider delaying your application until after your senior year.

Athletes. Athletes can have difficulty scheduling prehealth courses for several reasons. Practice sessions can restrict time available for specific courses and particularly for courses with laboratories. It may be a challenge to carry a rigorous schedule in a semester in which an athlete participates in a sport. It may also be hard to find the time for community service, health professional observation, or research. Athletes interested in a career in the health professions should make sure to meet with their prehealth advisor at least once a year to set up a careful course schedule that will allow these issues to be taken into consideration. Many athletes plan to spread their prehealth course work out over the full four years and delay their application to health professions schools. Some athlete who desire to play their sport professionally following college have elected to take the prerequisites for health professions schools at a later date through a postbaccalaureate program. Please see Delayed/Alumni Applicant. Female varsity athletes interested in a career in the health professions may want to participate in the Collegiate Athlete Premedical Experience Program (CAPE). Contact Dr. Henry Friedman for further information.

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