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Sponsored by the Office of the Provost
Major map compass icon
2021-2022

Pre-Medicine (advising track)

VCU Student Success

 
Program description

Students interested in the pre-medicine advising track must obtain a bachelor’s degree and complete the necessary prerequisites for medical school. All prerequisites should be completed or on track to be complete prior to medical school matriculation. Best results occur when all prerequisite courses have been taken and grades are available at the time of application. Students interested in medical school should consult with a Pre-Professional Health (PPH)  & STEM Career Advisor to learn about requirements that are specific to the schools of medicine to which they hope to apply.


Declaration of a pre-medicine advising track through the PPH & STEM Career Advising Team does not constitute admission to the VCU School of Medicine. Students must apply separately to the medical school(s) of their choice at the appropriate time.


Students with an interest in preparing for medical school must declare an academic major and should declare and maintain their pre-medical advising track. Students do not earn a pre-medical degree. Students unsure of their academic majors initially should clarify their academic interests through regular conversations with their primary/major academic adviser. Pre-medical students are encouraged to major in fields of greatest interest to them. To declare a pre-medicine advising track, please see the Canvas Pre-Professional Health (PPH) Hub.

Career opportunities

Physicians may earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) to practice allopathic medicine or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) to practice osteopathic medicine. Both types of physicians must select a speciality in which they will practice patient care such as pediatrics, cardiology, dermatology, or surgery. Additional career opportunities for physicians include research, teaching, healthcare administration, public health, or advocacy, to name a few.

Change of major requirements

To change to a different PPH Track, students must complete the PPH Module on the Canvas PPH Hub that corresponds to the new track in which they are interested.

Graduate and professional level job titles
  • Health-Based Researcher
  • Medical Doctor
  • Physician Assistant
  • Professor
Professional associations and resources
Degree requirements in Bulletin
Plan of study in Bulletin

    n/a

Requirements
Highest level of math required
  • MATH 151
  • STAT 210
Science required
  • 5+ additional science courses
Foreign language requirements
  • No
Additional tuition/fees
  • No
GPA requirements (to progress/graduate in the major)
  • A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7+ is required to apply to become a pre-professional health student and to stay on the pre-professional health advising track.
Transfer Maps

Contact information

Department name:
Pre-Professional Health Advising
Building/room location:
Hibbs Hall, First Floor
Phone:
804-827-8648
Email:
preprofadv@vcu.edu
https://virginiacommonwealth.instructure.com/enroll/YNNNJ7
Campus (where 75% of courses are taken):
Monroe Park
Major map compass icon
Major map

Explore
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE

Experience
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Schedule an appointment with your advisor to explore minors, certificates, and plan your required REAL experience.
  • Get familiar with the research process with the VCU Libraries Research Basics Guide.
  • Talk to professors about your research interests, electives, and strategies for success in your classes.
  • Explore innovation and business/non-profit creation classes with the da Vinci Center.
  • Schedule an appointment with your PPH and STEM Career Advisor on Handshake.
  • Required to declare the pre-med track, take BIOL/Z 151, CHEM/Z 101, CHEM/Z 102, and MATH 151 or 200.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
  • Discuss personal and professional interests with faculty.
  • Take a service-learning class to get involved with local organizations while earning credit.
  • Volunteer to address a social issue and check out Hands on Greater Richmond for opportunities.
  • Learn about the Sophomore Year Experience in Cary & Belvedere.
  • If living on campus, join the Residence Hall Association.
  • Discuss potential service opportunities with your PPH and STEM career advisor to ensure appropriateness for medical school requirements
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Make friends with diverse perspectives and join a cultural or identity-related student organization.
  • Explore social issues, develop cultural competency skills, and engage with faculty through iExcel pop-up courses.
  • Investigate globally-focused courses in your major by pursuing language coursework or setting language proficiency goals with advisors and faculty.
  • Apply for the Critical Languages Scholarship.
  • Volunteer with a vulnerable, underrepresented, and/or underserved community, focus on the depth of the experience, and reflect on the challenges these populations might face with their health care.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Complete a gap analysis with your career advisor to identify key skills required for your professional field.
  • Seek out practical experience through independent skill-building, internships, shadowing, or part-time work.
  • Explore global career options with a career advisor to set goals for getting your dream job.
  • Organize examples of your academic and professional experiences, accomplishments, and reflections in an ePortfolio.
  • Attend career and internship fairs and other professional development events.
  • Pursue a digital badge to highlight the knowledge, skills, and experiences employers and graduate schools value.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Connect with alumni on VCULink for career advice, industry contacts, and meaningful professional relationships.
  • Conduct informational interviews or shadow someone in a field of professional interest.
  • Ask a faculty or staff member to be your academic and professional mentor and to provide future letters of recommendation.
  • Meet with a coach at The Money Spot to set financial goals, understand student loans, and create spending plans.
  • Consider who you would like to have serve as future letter of recommendation writers, research the number of letters you need, and identify who can write them; typically, for medical school, applicants should have at least 1 letter from a science professor, 1 from a clinician, and 1 from a professional.
  • Review resources at AAMC and begin to develop your own plan for applying and taking the MCAT.

Experience
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • See your academic and career advisors to discuss graduation progress and career planning.
  • Enhance your business, software, technology, and creative skills using LinkedIn Learning.
  • Discuss with your PPH and STEM career advisor whether you should apply this year or apply next year and take a gap year; if not taking a gap year, year 4 of the major map must be completed prior to application.
  • Participate in the Pre-Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) in the spring semester.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Build language proficiency and cultural competence by carrying out your plans for study abroad, internships, and service-learning.
  • Get required REAL experience and effect community change by using iExcel’s Active Citizen’s Toolkit to vote and volunteer.
  • Explore new cultures at one of Richmond’s wide array of festivals.
  • Prepare for future work on multidisciplinary and multicultural teams by showcasing your interpersonal skills on your resume.
  • Continue volunteering with a vulnerable, underrepresented, and/or underserved community; develop long-term relationships; and get more involved in the organization.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Take advantage of mock interview opportunities through InterviewStream or meeting with a career advisor.
  • Update your ePortfolio.
  • Apply for the Graduate School Mentorship Program to learn more about graduate school and the graduate student experience.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
  • Look for opportunities at VCU, your place of employment, and/or in your greater community that allow you to apply for a leadership role or assume greater responsibility while focusing on opportunities in areas that you are passionate about.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Make a plan with your academic, career, and faculty advisors for applying to graduate school or land a micro-internship.
  • Study for and complete any standardized exams required for graduate school the summer before senior year. 
  • Prepare for job offer negotiation by researching salaries, benefits, and other opportunities for flexibility.
  • Review materials and begin studying for the MCAT and plan to incorporate multiple MCAT study skills and techniques.
  • Talk with your PPH and STEM career advisor about any concerns and understand the background check process for your profession.

Excel
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor the semester before you graduate to ensure that all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Choose REAL electives to diversify your skillset and round out your degree.
  • Review your true cumulative GPA, science GPA, non-science GPA, grade trend, and semester course difficulty to see a full picture of your academic profile.
  • Scheduling an appointment with a PPH and STEM career advisor is highly recommended to assess your progress through the application process and to discuss gap year options.
GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY
  • Carry out globally-oriented research projects with multilingual faculty and international partners.
  • Read scholarly articles about diversity in your field.
  • Master your answers to interview questions about your experience working with diverse populations.
  • Plan for how you will grow your cultural agility after graduation.
  • Reflect on your own cultural competency, and be prepared to answer interview questions that outline how you have worked with diverse populations based on the Community Connection Competencies in the Pre-Professional Healthcare Journal.
EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS
  • Meet with your academic or professional mentor and identify examples of your experiential learning to share with employers.
  • Publish your original research in Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creativity.
  • Consider becoming an educator through programs like RTR, which prepare graduates from a variety of majors to become teachers in high-need schools.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
  • Reflect on the experiential learning you have engaged in thus far and discuss with current or potential mentors among your peers, faculty, advisors, alumni, and professionals.
PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
  • Prepare for graduation by making a plan to complete licensing exams, applications, and self-marketing activities.
  • Single out prospective employers and create a job or graduate school search strategy at least 8 months before graduation.
  • Have a personal statement or cover letter reviewed by Career Services. 
  • Connect with the Office of VCU Alumni Relations at Grad Fair, Grad Bash, and the VCULink Industry Network or alumni chapter.
  • If accepted to a professional healthcare program, make sure to understand the process of acceptance to a school including tuition deposits, the background check, and traffic rules.
  • Review test day information, sign up, and take the MCAT then meet with your PPH and STEM career advisor to review your score and how it impacts your application competitiveness.
Visit majormaps.vcu.edu for the online version with links.
Sponsored by the Office of the Provost
Major map compass icon
2021-2022

Pre-Medicine (advising track)

VCU Student Success

Concentration(s):
No concentration
MAXIMIZE COURSE AND DEGREE PLANNING GET CONNECTED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY DEVELOP CULTURAL AGILITY EXPLORE CAREERS AND DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS PREPARING FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE
Explore Year 1
Experience Year 2
  • Schedule an appointment with your advisor to explore minors, certificates, and plan your required REAL experience.
  • Get familiar with the research process with the VCU Libraries Research Basics Guide.
  • Talk to professors about your research interests, electives, and strategies for success in your classes.
  • Explore innovation and business/non-profit creation classes with the da Vinci Center.
  • Schedule an appointment with your PPH and STEM Career Advisor on Handshake.
  • Required to declare the pre-med track, take BIOL/Z 151, CHEM/Z 101, CHEM/Z 102, and MATH 151 or 200.
  • Discuss personal and professional interests with faculty.
  • Take a service-learning class to get involved with local organizations while earning credit.
  • Volunteer to address a social issue and check out Hands on Greater Richmond for opportunities.
  • Learn about the Sophomore Year Experience in Cary & Belvedere.
  • If living on campus, join the Residence Hall Association.
  • Discuss potential service opportunities with your PPH and STEM career advisor to ensure appropriateness for medical school requirements
  • Make friends with diverse perspectives and join a cultural or identity-related student organization.
  • Explore social issues, develop cultural competency skills, and engage with faculty through iExcel pop-up courses.
  • Investigate globally-focused courses in your major by pursuing language coursework or setting language proficiency goals with advisors and faculty.
  • Apply for the Critical Languages Scholarship.
  • Volunteer with a vulnerable, underrepresented, and/or underserved community, focus on the depth of the experience, and reflect on the challenges these populations might face with their health care.
  • Complete a gap analysis with your career advisor to identify key skills required for your professional field.
  • Seek out practical experience through independent skill-building, internships, shadowing, or part-time work.
  • Explore global career options with a career advisor to set goals for getting your dream job.
  • Organize examples of your academic and professional experiences, accomplishments, and reflections in an ePortfolio.
  • Attend career and internship fairs and other professional development events.
  • Pursue a digital badge to highlight the knowledge, skills, and experiences employers and graduate schools value.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
  • Connect with alumni on VCULink for career advice, industry contacts, and meaningful professional relationships.
  • Conduct informational interviews or shadow someone in a field of professional interest.
  • Ask a faculty or staff member to be your academic and professional mentor and to provide future letters of recommendation.
  • Meet with a coach at The Money Spot to set financial goals, understand student loans, and create spending plans.
  • Consider who you would like to have serve as future letter of recommendation writers, research the number of letters you need, and identify who can write them; typically, for medical school, applicants should have at least 1 letter from a science professor, 1 from a clinician, and 1 from a professional.
  • Review resources at AAMC and begin to develop your own plan for applying and taking the MCAT.
Year 3
  • See your academic and career advisors to discuss graduation progress and career planning.
  • Enhance your business, software, technology, and creative skills using LinkedIn Learning.
  • Discuss with your PPH and STEM career advisor whether you should apply this year or apply next year and take a gap year; if not taking a gap year, year 4 of the major map must be completed prior to application.
  • Participate in the Pre-Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) in the spring semester.
  • Build language proficiency and cultural competence by carrying out your plans for study abroad, internships, and service-learning.
  • Get required REAL experience and effect community change by using iExcel’s Active Citizen’s Toolkit to vote and volunteer.
  • Explore new cultures at one of Richmond’s wide array of festivals.
  • Prepare for future work on multidisciplinary and multicultural teams by showcasing your interpersonal skills on your resume.
  • Continue volunteering with a vulnerable, underrepresented, and/or underserved community; develop long-term relationships; and get more involved in the organization.
  • Take advantage of mock interview opportunities through InterviewStream or meeting with a career advisor.
  • Update your ePortfolio.
  • Apply for the Graduate School Mentorship Program to learn more about graduate school and the graduate student experience.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
  • Look for opportunities at VCU, your place of employment, and/or in your greater community that allow you to apply for a leadership role or assume greater responsibility while focusing on opportunities in areas that you are passionate about.
  • Make a plan with your academic, career, and faculty advisors for applying to graduate school or land a micro-internship.
  • Study for and complete any standardized exams required for graduate school the summer before senior year. 
  • Prepare for job offer negotiation by researching salaries, benefits, and other opportunities for flexibility.
  • Review materials and begin studying for the MCAT and plan to incorporate multiple MCAT study skills and techniques.
  • Talk with your PPH and STEM career advisor about any concerns and understand the background check process for your profession.
Excel Year 4
  • Schedule an appointment with your academic advisor the semester before you graduate to ensure that all graduation requirements will be met.
  • Choose REAL electives to diversify your skillset and round out your degree.
  • Review your true cumulative GPA, science GPA, non-science GPA, grade trend, and semester course difficulty to see a full picture of your academic profile.
  • Scheduling an appointment with a PPH and STEM career advisor is highly recommended to assess your progress through the application process and to discuss gap year options.
  • Carry out globally-oriented research projects with multilingual faculty and international partners.
  • Read scholarly articles about diversity in your field.
  • Master your answers to interview questions about your experience working with diverse populations.
  • Plan for how you will grow your cultural agility after graduation.
  • Reflect on your own cultural competency, and be prepared to answer interview questions that outline how you have worked with diverse populations based on the Community Connection Competencies in the Pre-Professional Healthcare Journal.
  • Meet with your academic or professional mentor and identify examples of your experiential learning to share with employers.
  • Publish your original research in Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creativity.
  • Consider becoming an educator through programs like RTR, which prepare graduates from a variety of majors to become teachers in high-need schools.
  • Collecting and reflecting on your experiences using the Pre-Professional Health Journal on Canvas PPH Hub every semester is highly recommended!
  • Reflect on the experiential learning you have engaged in thus far and discuss with current or potential mentors among your peers, faculty, advisors, alumni, and professionals.
  • Prepare for graduation by making a plan to complete licensing exams, applications, and self-marketing activities.
  • Single out prospective employers and create a job or graduate school search strategy at least 8 months before graduation.
  • Have a personal statement or cover letter reviewed by Career Services. 
  • Connect with the Office of VCU Alumni Relations at Grad Fair, Grad Bash, and the VCULink Industry Network or alumni chapter.
  • If accepted to a professional healthcare program, make sure to understand the process of acceptance to a school including tuition deposits, the background check, and traffic rules.
  • Review test day information, sign up, and take the MCAT then meet with your PPH and STEM career advisor to review your score and how it impacts your application competitiveness.