Pre-Health Programs
Description
The Pre-Health programs at Detroit Mercy are a path to a career in healthcare, medicine, and dentistry. The Pre-Health programs are not degree programs, but a combination of support structures and learning environments which aid the pre-professional student in their efforts to transformative careers in:
- Human or veterinary medicine
- Dentistry
- Podiatry
- Pharmacy
- Physical and Occupational therapy
- Nursing
- Optometry
Detroit Mercy provides pre-health students with the breadth and depth of academic, cultural, and moral background that will enable them to compete successfully with their peers from other colleges, both in gaining admission to professional school and retaining high class status after acceptance. A realistic, as opposed to a merely idealistic, approach is used in pre-health counseling, with full concern for the individual student and their needs, as well as careful attention to fulfilling the pre-professional requirements.
The record of success in placing Detroit Mercy students in the medical and dental schools, and the large number of its graduates, now in active professional practice, attest to the value of this approach.
Gaining admission to these professional schools continues to be extremely competitive, and high scholastic achievement is necessary. Consequently, only those students who have proven their ability to excel in the sciences and all other areas of study will be accepted into the program and allowed to remain.
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Advising and Mentoring Program
Students in the College of Engineering & Science are immediately assigned an academic advisor to counsel students on the selection of courses and course load prior to registration each term. Students in the College of Engineering & Science can also interact with the Pre-Health Program Coordinator and Advisor who works with students on their trajectory toward professional school including providing information on interviews, application preparation, personal statements, and volunteer and clinical experiences. Students also have access to the Pre-Health Evaluation Committee who formally interviews each student at the time of application to professional school. They also provide a written evaluation of each student for the various professional school admissions committees. These letters are used as important criteria of selection.
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Selection of Degree/Major
Students preparing for careers in medicine or dentistry follow programs which enable them to complete the basic requirements for admission into professional school at the same time they are fulfilling the departmental requirements in their field of major concentration. Most pre-health students major in biology, biochemistry, or chemistry, but this is not necessary. Medical and dental schools accept students who have majored in areas other than science as long as they acquire a solid basic knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Program Contact Information
Carmen Gamlin, LPC
Pre-Health Program Coordinator and Advisor
Engineering 267
Telephone: (313) 993-1956
Email: gamlincd@udmercy.edu