Pre-Health Advising

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Your future in medicine starts here. Whether you're exploring careers in healthcare or preparing for medical school applications, our dedicated advising team is here to support you.

Thinking about a career in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or another health profession? Occidental’s Pre-Health Advising program provides personalized support to help you explore medicine and allied health careers, gain clinical experience, and develop a strong application for medical or professional school. Nearly one in five Occidental students pursue the pre-health track, drawn to the combination of academic rigor, close mentorship, and hands-on opportunities that define the �� experience.

News Article: Occidental Alumni Entering Top Medical Schools with Full Scholarships

Why Choose Occidental for Pre-Health?

At Occidental, a liberal arts education shapes students into well-rounded, thoughtful, and competent healthcare providers. Our interdisciplinary curriculum helps you build both scientific expertise and the critical thinking, communication, and cultural awareness that today’s health professions demand. In the classroom, you’ll benefit from close faculty mentorship, small class sizes, and academic support resources. Many students participate in hands-on research as early as their first year.

Our location in Los Angeles gives you access to world-renowned teaching hospitals, cutting-edge biomedical research labs, and clinics that serve diverse urban communities. Occidental is the only college in California offering a .

�� alumna Annie Zhou working in a dentistry office on a patient

�� student Tylor Lee taking a patient's blood pressure reading

A US Army personnel teaching students about how to perform medical sutures using test kits

Health Career Pathways

Not sure which healthcare career is right for you? The Office of Pre-Health Advising supports students pursuing a broad spectrum of professions—whether you're aiming for medical school or exploring opportunities in allied health, biotechnology, or beyond. We’ll help you clarify your interests and chart a personalized path forward in the following areas:

Pre-medical

dentistry
medicine (allopathic, osteopathic)
podiatry

Biotech Industry

life sciences
biotechnology

Allied Health

genetic counseling
nursing
occupational therapy
optometry
physician assistant
physical therapy
pharmacy
speech-language pathology
veterinary medicine

How We Provide Pre-Health Advising at Occidental

At Occidental, pre-health advising is more than course planning. The director of pre-health advising and pre-health adviser provide personalized, high-touch support tailored to your goals—whether you're a current student or an alum preparing to apply after a gap year. Our step-by-step guidance includes:

mapping out prerequisite courses
identifying high-impact experiences such as fellowships, internships, and study abroad
finding research, volunteering, and clinical opportunities
navigating the graduate admission process, including MCAT preparation, application review, and mock interviews

You’ll also receive support through ��’s Writing Center, where faculty advisers work with you to refine your personal statement and application essays, helping craft a compelling narrative for your application.

Pre-Health Digest

Our weekly Pre-Health Digest keeps you connected with the latest opportunities and updates. Each issue features curated listings for workshops, info sessions, events, paid internship listings, clinical jobs, and bench-to-bedside research opportunities.

Four �� alumni posing in their "white coats" for medical school

Exclusive Pre-Professional Opportunities

Occidental’s Pre-Health Advising program connects students to real-world experiences that support professional development and deepen your understanding of health careers. Through partnerships and tailored programs, you’ll gain early exposure to clinical environments, health equity work, and research opportunities in Los Angeles.

Pre-health students have access to:

The Huntington-�� Pre-med Preceptorship (HOPP)
Clinical research at Huntington Medical Research Institute (via InternLA)
Physical therapy internships through the Department of Kinesiology
Health equity internships tied to the public health minor

EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMS

The Huntington-�� Pre-med Preceptorship (HOPP)

The Huntington-�� Pre-med Preceptorship (HOPP) is a competitive, hands-on program in which you’ll provide direct patient care and shadow attending and resident physicians at Huntington Hospital. Exclusive to Occidental students, HOPP offers a rare opportunity to learn from practicing clinicians in both hospital and classroom settings.

Student and Alumni Outcomes

Between 2020 and 2025, Occidental’s students and alumni have achieved an 80% medical school acceptance rate—well above the national average. Occidental graduates have gone on to attend top-ranked programs at institutions like UCSF, UCLA, UC San Diego, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Mount Sinai, Columbia, and Stanford.

Read success stories

From �� to Med School: James Henderson '22

At ��, James led critical safety initiatives on the COVID Operations Task Force, facilitating student return to campus during the pandemic. After graduating, he earned an M.S. in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School while serving on the Clinical Ethics Committee at Massachusetts General Hospital. James will begin his M.D. training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2025.

FAQs

The rigorous liberal arts curriculum helps students build an excellent foundation in both the humanities and sciences. Core requirements allow students to explore a wide-range of topics and help develop excellent critical reading and writing skills. You’ll learn to communicate effectively and collaborate with your peers.

�� offers excellent research opportunities for students to work closely with faculty who are leaders in their respective fields.
With a ratio of students to faculty of 9:1, students have ample opportunities to interact and collaborate with faculty in and out of the classroom. Through those interactions, faculty and staff get to know our students well and become advocates of the students in all their future endeavors.
Our focus is on educating undergraduate students. Without graduate students on campus to compete for resources and opportunities, our undergraduate students engage in high quality research with faculty and take on leadership roles.
Students receive individualized attention from faculty and staff.
There is a strong commitment from alumni who offer shadowing or volunteering opportunities to our pre-health students in a variety of medical specialties.

There is no “premed” major and no one major has an advantage over others when applying to medical school. Medical schools do not require a specific major. We recommend that you explore the variety of courses that �� offers and study diverse topics during your first and second year of college and then select a major that you find intellectually challenging and interesting. You can major in any subject as long as you meet all the basic academic requirements required by the medical programs to which you plan to apply. Work with our advisers to learn what those required courses are and schedule your corresponding �� classes carefully as you will need to take some of the courses sequentially.

Actively engage yourself in activities that you care deeply about, on- and off-campus. You can start by investigating what types of clubs and organizations are active on campus, and join the groups that interest you. You may even want to start a new club! You will find that �� has a rich tradition in community service, political activism, arts, and sports. As a pre-health student, you will also need to participate in clinical shadowing and volunteering opportunities in the medical specialty that you plan to pursue. The level of commitment and the length of your service or engagement are more important than the clubs and organizations with which you are affiliated. When choosing activities, manage your time wisely and be careful not to over-commit yourself.

Upcoming Events

5 Sep

Office of Pre-Health Advising Open House

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

16 Sep

Pre-Health: Physician Panel Q & A

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

25 Sep

Pre-Health 101: Planning pre-health courses

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

View All Pre-Health Events

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