Appointments

Pre-Health

We have many students who are preparing for careers in the health professions. There are many different types of health professions like physician, dentist, or physical therapist.

We want to incorporate our student's career goals into their academic graduation plans. Informing your advisor of your health professions interest is important because there is a lot to know about being a health professions student.

Pre-health advising is a type of academic advising that is focused on the academics and co-curriculuars necessary to pursue one of the many health professional careers. For each profession, there are high expectations and specific criteria of students who pursue it. Additional and continued ongoing training is necessary to be a health professions advisor.

There are several academic advisors who trained to provide health professions advising. In general, career advising can be completed in conjunction with an advising appointment. However, it is common for a student to need additional advising time to cover all of the items needed for both graduation (academic advising) and health professional school preparation (pre-health advising).

Division of Health Professions Advising

The Division of Health Professions Advising is dedicated to providing our USF undergraduate students with information and guidance in preparing at USF for their career aspiration as a health professional.

Their office provides

• informational group sessions on requirements for health professional schools,
• how-to workshops on the application processes for health professional schools,
• health professions coaching program, and
• training for USF academic advisors who work regularly with pre-health students.

H2: USF Health

USF Health offers different health professional career programs, like Athletic Training, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Public Health, Pharmacy, Research, and Medicine (MD and PA). Students interested in applying to a USF health professions program can receive prospective student admissions counseling directly from the USF Health programs.

USF Health also offers USF Pre-Admission Advising for all of their USF programs.

First Year/First Time in College

For new first year students (new students coming from high school) who know they wish to pursue a health professional career but have not yet selected their academic major, they can delay declaring their academic major in thier first semester. Currently, students who select this at admissions are called "Pre-Professional Science" or "PPS."

The PPS advisor will work with students to take the correct science/math coursework in their first year to keep them on track as a pre-health professional student, and help them decide on a major for graduation. After the student selects their academic major, the student will work with their major advisor and a pre-health advisor.