Pre-Health at UCSC

While UCSC does not have pre-health or pre-med programs, students from any major can enter health/medical schools.

Explore Health Professions

Medicine | Physician Assistant | Nursing | Dentistry | Optometry | Pharmacy | Veterinarian Medicine

Don't see the health profession you are interested in? Visit NAAHP Student Resources and ExploreHealthCareers.org to learn about many other health professions.

• WORKSHEET: Health Professional Careers Reflection Guide

Getting Started

Enroll in our Career Success Canvas Course to get guidance on prerequisite courses, experiences, core competencies, components of applications, and application timelines.

To view these, go to the Graduate & Professional School Prep (including law and medical school) module and click on the Prepare for Medical & Health Professional Schools page.

Timeline & Exploring Programs 

• View pre-health timeline
• View applications at a glance
• View programs applied to by UCSC students/alumni 

Prerequisite Courses

• View UCSC courses that can fulfill common prerequisites
  • See examples of varying prerequisites for medical schools
• View postbac programs FAQs
  • Learn about the Premed Postbacc program at the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension
  • Learn about the California Postbaccalaureate Consortium

Experiences

• Learn about getting experiences
• WORKSHEET: Pre-Health Activities & Work Tracker  
• Review 17 Core Competencies
  
• WORKSHEET: Self-Assessment Guide of 17 Core Competencies
• Connect with pre-health student organizations
• SPREADSHEET: See list of summer enrichment programs, conferences, fellowships, and more.

Preparing for Application

• Am I Ready to Apply for Medical School or Other Health Professional Program?
• WORKSHEET: Personal Statement
• WORKSHEET: Letter of Recommendation Reflection Guide for Medical/Health Professional School 

Additional Resources for Undocumented Students/Alumni

The following resources are provided by Pre-Health Dreamers.

• View resources for various health professions
• View the Health Career Pathway Chart for pre-health students in California

Pre-Health Coaching

• We have pre-health drop-in hours to answer common questions or help you get started. No appointments are needed for these drop-ins.
  • • See our Career Coaching page for updated availability.
• Schedule a 30-minute one-on-one coaching appointment.
  • Within Handshake, select Career Coaching > Pre-Health to talk about the application process for health/medical schools and how to prepare to be a strong applicant. 
  • This is available to current UCSC students and alumni who graduated within the last 2 years.