Department of Biology
 

Elmhurst College

Elmhurst College offers a variety of programs, including internships and shadowing opportunities for students intending to pursue careers in the health professions. Courses required for entry into professional schools are incorporated into regular academic schedules.

Specific requirements of professional schools differ greatly, even within a field, making regular advising essential. Students are encouraged to plan an early consultation with the Chief Health Professions Advisor, who will assist students, regardless of their major, in achieving the academic balance, variety and focus needed to read their professional goals. Advisors are available to educate students on the variety of career options, to help students plan their programs, to help students prepare for national qualifying examinations and to assist students in submitting applications to health professional schools.

The Chief Health Professions Advisor also arranges for a student evaluation and recommendation by the Health Professions Recommendation Committee. Each student, in consultation with the Chief Health Professions Advisor, selects a recommendation committee of faculty members from the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences and the Humanities. A maximum of five members may be present and at least one member must be from either the Social Sciences or Humanities.

The Health Professional Recommendation Committee evaluates the student through an interview process.

Regular advising is essential because professional schools change their requirements occasionally and careful program planning is important in order to complete requirements in a timely way.

There is a chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national premedical honor society, that serves to bring together students of common interest, even though they major in various academic departments.

Pre-professional students at Elmhurst College have the advantage of receiving maximum individual attention and encouragement. Elmhurst College's proximity to several medical, dental and other professional schools in the Chicago area, makes it possible for students to visit these schools and obtain firsthand information, as well as to take a field-experience course at one of the area's medical facilities during the January Term.