Pre-Health
About Health Professions Advising: Pre-Health
The pre-health program is offered through F&M’s Health Professions Advising as a supplement to your chosen major. While you won’t declare your major until the end of your sophomore year, your pre-health advising experience will begin the moment you step on campus.
As a pre-health student, you’ll work with the Director of Health Professions Advising throughout your time at F&M. You’ll enjoy personalized guidance on recommended courses to take and specialized programming, resources, and more to help you develop the skills and experiences you’ll need to compete for post-graduate opportunities. Whether you are exploring which health profession might be right for you, looking for a summer internship, deciding when to apply to health professions school, or trying to select which school to attend, the F&M’s Health Professions Advising is with you every step of the way.
Personalized Guidance & Workshops
Clinical Opportunities
In particular, physician assistant (PA) programs generally require over 500 hours of direct patient care. Pre-PA students receive guidance throughout their time at F&M on the different ways they can complete these hours, including serving as an EMT, volunteering as a patient transporter at a local hospital, performing clinical research, working as a certified nursing assistant or a caregiver, and more. If you’re interested in physical therapy, you can shadow in several settings, such as in-patient at Lancaster General Hospital and outpatient in several local clinics and private practices.
Research Opportunities
Benjamin Rush Pre-Health Honor Society
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Preparation
Early Assurance Program
Physician Assistant, Penn State College of Medicine
Early assurance programs allow undergraduate students the opportunity to apply to and secure spots in post-graduate programs prior to completing their degree. Through such a program, F&M students may apply to the Physician Assistant Program at Penn State College of Medicine in the fall of their junior year. If accepted, you will attend Penn State College of Medicine shortly after graduation. You’ll work closely with the Director of Health Professions Advising to prepare your application.If you have questions about early assurance programs, please reach out to Marissa Sheaf at marissa.sheaf@fandm.edu.
Success Beyond F&M
F&M pre-health students are distinctly prepared to continue forging their paths to successful healthcare outcomes after graduating from F&M. Many of our graduates go on to graduate school after F&M before beginning their careers as leaders in the field.
Graduate School
The individualized learning and hands-on experience F&M provides gives them a competitive advantage when it comes time to apply to the nation’s top programs, including:
Nursing- Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
- NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
- University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
- Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
- Drexel University
- Emory School of Medicine
- Thomas Jefferson University
- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
- Arcadia University
- Duke University School of Medicine
- Penn State College of Medicine
- Rutgers School of Health Professions
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Temple University College of Public Health
- University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Yale School of Public Health
Career Paths
Many F&M alumni have become leaders in healthcare. They hold positions such as:
- Registered Nurse
- Physical Therapist
- Pharmacologist
- Physician Assistant
- Genetic Counselor
- Nurse Practitioner
- Midwife
- Community Health Educator
- Practice Manager
- Health Specialist
- Clinical Director
The biological sciences expand and advance frontiers of knowledge about all forms
of life. From molecules to ecosystems, from oceans to deserts, from the distant past
to present day, biology gives you insights into other species, ourselves, and our
world. Health humanities is a growing field at the intersection of humanistic scholarship
and health professions. This certificate blends rich perspectives from several academic
fields to explore questions of health (including mental health and public health),
illness, medicine, and disability. Do you want to explore the fascinating connections between science and government?
Study public health at F&M and challenge assumptions and structures as you develop
a deep moral intelligence surrounding public health around the globe.“Sitting in a class and then actually going into a facility and practicing what you
learn is so different. You can’t prepare yourself until you are actually doing it.”
Hanna Winslow ’27 spent her summer becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
and working at the Reading Hospital School of Health Sciences. The program was a mix
of lectures and labs, where she received hands-on training in CPR, airway adjuncts,
wound care, assessments and medication administration. She also “ran” with an ambulance
company, and had a chance to work in the emergency and respiratory departments. “Sitting
in a class and then actually going into a facility and practicing what you learn is
so different,” she said. “You can’t prepare yourself until you are actually doing
it.”
Read More »Related Fields of Study
Biology
Health Humanities (Certificate)
Public Health
Beyond Career Services
Health Professions Advising is offered through F&M’s Center for Career and Professional Development. The Career Center cultivates professional development experiences that embolden students and alumni to design and navigate fulfilling careers with courage and curiosity.
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