The Health Professions Career Information page aims to provide resources for students interested in exploring medical careers.
While there is significant overlap in prerequisite coursework for various medical and professional schools, each school may have its own distinct requirements. The information provided below is meant to give students a general idea of the required prerequisite coursework. Please meet with an advisor and research the specific prerequisite requirements for the institutions and programs you wish to attend.
Note that the stronger you perform in your undergraduate prerequisite coursework, the more competitive you will be for graduate school.
List of Health Professions
Visit the following pages to learn more about the various health professions.
Audiologists are educated and trained to evaluate, diagnose, treat, prevent, and manage hearing loss and balance disorders, as well as program hearing aids, cochlear implants, assistive listening devices, bone-anchored hearing aids, and more. To become an audiologist, a student must earn a bachelor's degree first before pursuing an AuD, PhD, or combination AuD/PhD degree. While there is no specific bachelor’s degree a student must receive, many times students choose undergraduate majors such as communication disorders, or other related area, to prepare them for a required three- or four-year audiology program.
Visit the Pre-Audiology Medicine webpage to learn more.
Chiropractors are primary care professionals and play a vital, life-changing role. Chiropractic uses a wide variety of techniques and approaches to relieve pain, increase mobility and optimize performance through safe and effective spinal adjustments and manipulation. They play a vital and life-changing role, healing with a human touch. - NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Chiropractic Medicine webpage for more information.
"Dentistry is a profession that combines science and technology with helping people to enhance and maintain their oral health. As health care practitioners, dentists diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases, injuries and malformations of the teeth and mouth. They improve a patient’s appearance by using a variety of cosmetic dental procedures; perform surgical procedures such as implants, tissue grants and extractions; educate patients on how to take better care of their teeth and prevent oral disease; teach future dentists and dental hygienists; and perform research directed to developing new treatment methods and improving oral health.” -NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Dental Medicine Profession webpage to learn more.
There are two types of degree programs to become a physician in the US—an MD (allopathic) degree and a DO (osteopathic) degree. Both MD and DO physicians utilize scientifically accepted methods of diagnosis and treatment, including the use of prescription drugs and surgery. The educational requirements are similar as both degrees require four years of medical school and a residency program of three to seven years. In most instances, DO and MD physicians are examined by the same state licensing board, therefore licensure for both is based on the same requirements and the same or comparable examinations. Both types of physicians are licensed to practice all phases of medicine in every state in America, and both are found in every specialty of medicine. The premedical pathway is identical for both allopathic and osteopathic schools, requiring premedical coursework (which varies slightly from school to school), the MCAT, and a bachelor’s degree.
Visit the Pre-Medical Profession webpage to learn more.
Naturopathic physicians are primary health care providers who are experts in the intersection of conventional practice and natural therapies. NDs emphasize prevention, wellness and optimal health and encourage individuals’ inherent self-healing process. The practice of naturopathic medicine includes modern and traditional, scientific and empirical methods, combining the wisdom of nature with the rigors of modern science.” -NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Naturopathic Medicine webpage for more information.
“Occupational Therapy is a health profession concerned with promoting health and well-being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement.” - NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Occupational Therapy webpage to learn more
“Optometrists provide full-scope primary optometric care. Their day can be quite varied and challenging. Patient interaction can include performing routine visual exams, removing a foreign body from the cornea, evaluating a child who is not performing well in school, fitting a contact lens patient, prescribing medication for glaucoma, providing follow-up care after refractive surgery, and/or fitting a patient who is legally blind with a magnifying device that enables the patient to read.”
- NAAHP Fact Sheet
Pharmacists are medication experts and play a critical role in helping people get the best results from their medications. Pharmacists prepare and dispense prescriptions, ensure medicines and doses are correct, prevent harmful drug interactions, and counsel patients on the safe and appropriate use of their medications. They have specialized expertise about the composition of medicines, including their chemical, biological, and physical properties, as well as their manufacture and use.
Physical therapists are evidence-based, healthcare professionals who diagnose and treat individuals of all ages who have medical problems or other health-related conditions that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives. They offer cost effective treatment that improves mobility and relieves pain, reduces the need for surgery and prescription drugs, and allows patients to participate in a recovery plan designed for their specific needs. In addition, physical therapist work with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it occurs by developing fitness and wellness-oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles. Physical therapists provide care for people in a variety of settings, including hospitals, private practices, outpatient clinics, home health agencies, schools, sports and fitness facilities, work settings, and nursing homes. State licensure is required in each state in which a physical therapist practice.” -NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Physical Therapy Medicine webpage for more information.
A physician assistant, or PA, is "a medical provider who is licensed to diagnose and treat illness and disease and prescribe medication for patients." Working under a written agreement with a licensed doctor, PAs make clinical decisions and provide a range of diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive and health maintenance services. The PA is trained to represent the MD doctor and act on his or her behalf, as part of an integrated care team.
A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), known also as a podiatric physician surgeon, is qualified by their education and training to diagnose and treat conditions affecting the foot, ankle and related structures of the leg. When treating patients, this system is also known as the lower extremity. Podiatric physicians are uniquely qualified among medical professionals to treat the lower extremity based on their education, training, and expertise. Podiatrists are defined as physicians by the federal government.” -NAAHP Fact Sheet
Visit the Pre-Podiatry Medicine webpage for more information.
“Whether they're pets, livestock or working animals, animals matter to individuals and society. Every community needs veterinary professionals to provide animal health care, but veterinarians also do many other kinds of jobs. They make sure the nation's food supply is safe. They work to control the spread of diseases. They conduct research that helps both animals and humans. Veterinarians are at the forefront of protecting the public's health and welfare.” -NAAHP Fact Sheet