Pre-Health Professions

TCU offers a curriculum preparing students for programs leading to doctoral degrees in the following health professions: Dentistry (DDS), Allopathic Medicine (MD), Optometry (OD), Osteopathic Medicine (DO), Podiatric Medicine (DPM), and Veterinary Medicine (DVM).

The Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) consists of faculty members who teach courses normally taken by students pursuing the above professional goals and presently includes Professors Gary Boehm, psychology; Doug Ingram, physics; David Minter, chemistry; Giri Akkaraju, biology; and Phil Hartman, biology, (Chair). Denise Bennett, academic program specialist to the program, is housed in SWR 258.

The duties of the committee are to advise students on their curriculum; provide counseling regarding the health professions; and evaluate, both for the student and for the professional schools, the student's suitability for entering the profession. The committee offers "mock" interviews and will write a committee-based letter of evaluation for those students who submit the appropriate biographical materials. Additional information is available at www.tcu/bio.edu/prehealth/home.htm.

Curriculum

Health profession schools prefer applicants who have completed a four-year curriculum leading to a BA or BS degree. While the health professions schools will accept students in any major, certain courses are required or suggested as described below. In addition, if medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine is a student's primary career goal, the Health Professions Advisory Committee strongly recommends that students major within the College of Science & Engineering.

Required and Suggested Courses

Although each professional program has its own list of required and suggested courses, those shown below meet the requirements of the majority. Students should check the current requirements of schools to which they intend to apply before they begin their junior year at TCU to ensure that new or unusual requirements can be met before graduation.

Pass/No-Credit Option

See the Bachelor's Degree Definitions and Regulations in the Bachelor's Degree section of the University requirements.

Aptitude Tests

Most professional schools require aptitude tests to have been taken at the time of application. Generally, these should be taken 15-17 months before contemplated admission; i.e., in the spring of the junior year for four-year students or in the sophomore year for three-year students (see below). Information on these exams is available in the Pre-Health Professions Office SWR 258: The Dental Aptitude Test (DAT), the Medical College Aptitude Test (MCAT), the Optometry Aptitude Test (OAT).





Texas Christian University
© Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer