PreProfessional Health

(Transfer Curriculum)

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin offers academic and pre-professional advising toward a number of professional health programs, including medicine, dentistry, chiropractic medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physician’s assistant, podiatry and veterinary medicine. The mission of the health professions’ advising program is to help students become well-informed and well-prepared applicants to enter health professions schools. To fulfill this mission, the health professions advising program offers the following services to interested students: academic advising, admission statistics to various professional schools, admissions test information, application guidelines and some applications materials and general information on all health career options. The Health Professions Advisory Committee annually conducts mock interviews for interested applicants to medical and dental schools and to other professional schools as space permits. Please refer to the Health Professions Advisor in the Department of Science and Mathematics for further information regarding the program.

These pre-professional health curriculums are not undergraduate majors; students have the option to major in any academic discipline they choose and they are encouraged to choose a major reflecting their academic interests and abilities. Nevertheless, most professional health programs require certain courses in mathematics and the natural sciences that must be taken in addition to a student’s major requirements if those courses are not otherwise taken for the major. Therefore, largely for operational convenience, the pre-professional health curriculums are offered primarily through the Biology and Chemistry programs within the College of Arts and Sciences. Students planning careers in one of the health professions, regardless of major, should contact the health professions’ advisor for appropriate pre-professional advising. Consult with the Office of the Department of Science and Mathematics or the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Office for a list of health professions’ advisors.

The health professional schools have, as requirements for acceptance into their programs, a minimum number of undergraduate semester credit hours ranging from 60 to 90, depending on the school. In practice, however, applicants with these minimum requirements rarely receive admission; a baccalaureate degree is highly desirable and as a general rule it is recommended that students plan on completing their degree before entering a health professions school.

Below is a course equivalency guide showing the UTPB courses that meet what are essentially minimum requirements for entry into the eight medical and three dental schools in the State of Texas. Most of the other health professions schools have similar requirements. This guide is only approximate. Additional courses are required by some schools. Students should contact The University Health Professions Advisor or the individual professional school for more complete information regarding course requirements. Entry into these professional health programs is very competitive. Following the course equivalency guide does not guarantee that a student will be accepted into a professional school. Therefore, students should choose a major that prepares them for alternative career choices.

Pre-professional Course Requirements and Equivalency Guide for Medical and Dental Schools in Texas

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