Pre-Medical
About Health Professions Advising: Pre-Medical
The pre-med program is offered through F&M’s Health Professions Advising as a supplement to your chosen major. While you’ll declare your major at the end of your sophomore year, your pre-med experience will begin the moment you step on campus.
As a pre-med student, you’ll work with the Director of Health Professions Advising
throughout your time at F&M. You’ll enjoy personalized guidance on recommended courses
to take and specialized programming, resources, and more to help you develop the skills
and experiences you’ll need to be a competitive applicant in medicine. Whether you
are exploring which health profession might be right for you, looking for a summer
internship, deciding when to apply to medical school, or trying to select which school
to attend, the F&M’s Health Professions Advising is with you every step of the way.
While most undergraduate institutions reserve research opportunities for their graduate
programs, we want you to engage now — not later. At F&M, you’ll dive into practice
and enjoy hands-on experience in and out of the classroom. We offer summer research
opportunities for a limited number of pre-med students through a partnership with
University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Pre-medical students can
also apply for funding to support their off-campus research projects. Past students
have completed summer research at: Graduates who follow the pre-med track are distinctly prepared for success in medicine.
Many go on to medical school before beginning their career as a leader in the field. In recent years, qualified applicants (3.4 GPA, 3.3 science GPA and 76% or better
MCAT score) have been accepted to medical school at a rate of 91%. The individualized
learning and hands-on experience F&M provides gives them an advantage in getting admitted
into some of the nation’s top programs, including: Many F&M alumni have become leaders in medicine, including in private practice, clinics,
and other settings. They hold positions such as:
Personalized Guidance & Workshops
Clinical Opportunities
Many pre-med students volunteer at local hospitals and clinics, including University
of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Lancaster, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
(LGH), and Lancaster Health Center. Some students volunteer for F&M EMS and Lancaster EMS after gaining EMT certification. If you have a specific area of
interest, you’ll receive guidance and support to find clinical opportunities.
Health Professions Advising also coordinates the True Blue Network Mentorship Program.
If you’re accepted to the True Blue Network Mentorship Program, you’ll be paired with
an alumni or community physician who will serve as your mentor. This program instills
a deep understanding of a life in medicine from both professional and personal perspectives.
Often, students have the ability to shadow their mentor, further developing their
understanding of patient care.
Research Opportunities
Benjamin Rush Pre-Health Honor Society
Application & Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Preparation
Early Assurance Programs: George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences
and Penn State College of Medicine
Success Beyond F&M
Graduate School
Career Paths
Alumni Spotlight
Alumnus Helps Pre-Med Students Get a Clearer View of Their Future
After graduating from F&M, Wenxin Wei ’02 studied a new form of eye surgery in California.
Now, Wei is back in Lancaster, helping legally blind patients see again — and helping
F&M pre-med students get a clearer view of what their future might hold. Over the
years, students have shadowed Wei at his office and surgery center, where they have
been able to watch examinations and surgeries. Wei feels it’s important for students
to see firsthand what a career in medicine involves. “I think when you’re in college,
being a physician or surgeon seems more like a distant concept than a reality. But
time flies and I think it’s important for them to get a glimpse of what they’re working
toward,” he said.
Read More »Alumni Spotlight
“Being submerged in this environment is really giving me that other component of a
liberal arts education I came to F&M for.”
Curtis Mark ’23, a public health major and pre-med student, landed an internship with
Dr. Michael Fishman '05, M.D., director of research at the Center for Interventional
Pain and Spine (CIPS). Mark shadowed patient visits and surgeries, learned about patient
charts and how to include notes, learned how to read medications, and got insight
into CIPS studies on chronic pain. Mark even began his own research study on a topic
he always found fascinating: phantom limb pain, which is when patients report feeling
pain in a limb even after it has been removed. "All these things I've never experienced
before I'm getting to learn about," Mark said. "Being submerged in this environment
is really giving me that other component of a liberal arts education I came to F&M
for."
Read More »
The biological sciences expand and advance frontiers of knowledge about all forms
of life. From molecules to ecosystems, from oceans to deserts, from the distant past
to present day, biology gives you insights into other species, ourselves, and our
world. Health humanities is a growing field at the intersection of humanistic scholarship
and health professions. This certificate blends rich perspectives from several academic
fields to explore questions of health (including mental health and public health),
illness, medicine, and disability. As a student of neuroscience at F&M, you will not only learn how the brain works,
but contribute to the ever-growing body of information on this unique organ. Using
a blend of knowledge and tools taken from the fields of biology, chemistry, physics,
mathematics, and psychology, you’ll develop a rich understanding of both the physical
and social functions of the brain.Related Fields of Study
Biology
Health Humanities (Certificate)
Neuroscience
Health Professions Advising is offered through F&M’s Office of Student and Post-Graduate
Development (OSPGD). Pronounced “os-puh-god,” OSPGD prepares F&M students and graduates
for success in every aspect of life beyond college.Beyond Career Services