Pre-Med and Pre-Health Education and Career Planning
Planning is essential
Whatever your career goal, planning your education requires sound advice from experienced practitioners from within your chosen field. This is especially important for those who plan a career in the medical field and want to investigate their education options.
Pre-Med
Considering a career in medicine, dentistry, veterinary or pharmaceutical science? To achieve this challenging goal, you'll need more than just the basic core curriculum of an undergraduate pre-med program. Planning and direction are critical elements of a quality pre-med program, often overlooked at larger institutions. Hanover has constructed its pre-med program not only to provide a quality education, but also to keep you on track toward your ultimate career goal. We do this by helping you design and plan extra and co-curricular pursuits that will help you get in to the best graduate schools.
Not all pre-med graduates begin their undergraduate career in this program. One of the many benefits of a liberal arts education is the chance to explore a variety of interests before declaring a major or enrolling in a pre-professional program. The solid groundwork built up until that moment is intended to aid you in not only identifying your talents and passions, but also to help you become familiar with the opportunities available in the areas that interest you. In the meantime, we'll help you refine your fundamental critical thinking skills and study habits. Even if you decide not to pursue our pre-med program, you'll benefit from the 'Hanover Advantage' by:
- working closely with a faculty advisor;
- consulting with a career advisory panel made up of established medical professionals;
- receiving guidance from faculty and Career Center staff when planning internships, research projects and your post-graduate agenda.
A significant complement to Hanover's already-acclaimed academic standards, this close attention and guidance has helped give students from the Midwest an edge over those from other regional colleges when competing for a place in the top-ranked graduate programs.
Pre-Health
Beyond the traditional careers in medicine, there are other health-related professions such as nursing, physical and occupational therapy, physician assistant and veterinary assistant –just to name a few. These careers require a slightly different approach to education when planning your academic and co-curricular strategy. If you undertake the pre-health program, you'll enjoy the same process of consulting with a faculty advisor and career advisory panel, but the focus will be on different areas with more emphasis placed on exploring the numerous jobs available in those healthcare fields. This close attention from faculty and off-campus professionals can aid you in choosing the college electives appropriate for your career direction and build upon the pre-health program's core curriculum – which does not differ from pre-med.
Why Hanover?
When applying for admission to top graduate programs in the Midwest and other regions, you will find that your Hanover College degree carries significant weight. Well-known for excellence in developing superior analytic and writing skills in conjunction with high achievement characteristics, Hanover also focuses directly on preparing you to excel in the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). Challenged by the above-average standards for earning grades, you'll have acclimated to the practice of performing at a higher measure - and by the time you begin your graduate program, you'll already have learned what it takes to be successful. The strenuous pre-med/pre-health programs at Hanover cultivate the dedication necessary for you to continue achieving at a high level long after graduate school.
