Undergraduate Pre-Medical and Health Professions Programs

Preparation for medical, dental, and other health professional school can start as early as your freshman year by enrolling in our undergraduate Pre-Medical and Health Professions Program (UG-PMHPP). We are here to help you every step of the way from your first introduction to pre-requisite coursework through the application and interview process.

The UG-PMHPP is not an academic major or degree program, but rather a multi-track post-secondary certificate program, pursued at the same time as your academic major degree program. We will provide you with opportunities that make you stand out such as:

  • Exceptional, personalized, ongoing advisement in cooperation with your major advisor
  • Hand-tailored curriculum planning and tracking consistent with professional goals
  • Application assistance to prepare for medical, dental, and other health professional schools
  • In addition to pre-requisite curriculum, 7 specialized pre-health courses with "0" additional credit load
  • Learn basic patient assessment and health and safety skills, including entry-level clinical skills
  • Introductions to collaborative practice, inter-professional education, and medical terminology
  • Instruction in basic anatomy and pathophysiology
  • Instruction, guidance and assistance through the complex medical and health professional school application process

 

Program Information

A certificate program that can be taken alongside a major to prepare a student to apply to medical and health professional schools.

Degree

Certificate

Applying to Medical, Dental or other Health Professional School

The practice of medicine, regardless of discipline, requires exceptional knowledge, skills, abilities and personal attributes. A component of almost every professional school application is that the student is able to document not only academic success and exam scores, but also:

  • observation/shadowing experiences,
  • volunteer experiences, and
  • employment and research experiences.

While each discipline and program varies on which of these activities bears the greatest importance, all admissions committees will be considering your submission of these types of experiences as part of the application process. This is why every application and/or interview required during the application process requires students to not only relate those experiences or opportunties, but also describe specifically what was learned or the value of those experiences in preparing the student to be qualified to enter professional school.

Gaining admission to a medical, dental or other health professional school is dependent on a variety of factors, unique to each disciplined and institution, that generally include meeting or exceeding the following standard criteria:

  • QPA/GPA (Overall, Math/Science, Science and "other" coursework)
  • Types and levels of courses taken, as well as couse withdrawals and repeats
  • Professional exam scores and relatioship to expected rankings
  • Activities, shadowing, volunteer, and work experience
  • Scholarly activities and research involvement
  • Letters of recommendation/evaluation and relationship of those evaluators to the applicant
  • Ability of applicant to articulate and communicate in both written and oral situations
  • How the student's goal/aspirations match the school/prorgram's mission
  • Demonstration of both intra and interpersonal skills and abilities
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Undergraduate Admission Requirements

You may apply and be admitted directly into the PMHPP when you apply to the University through one of the online applications. Prospective first-year students must meet the following requirements to be accepted for fall 2023:

  • SAT 1240 (Math + Evidence Based Reading and Writing) or 26 ACT
  • 3.5 or higher cumulative HS GPA on a 4.0 scale
  • Admitted to an academic major at the University
  • 3.75 Cumulative HS GPA on a 4.0 scale
  • Admitted to an academic major at the University

Note: It cannot be guaranteed that students choosing to apply to Duquesne via the No Exam Option will be evaluated in the same manner as students taking the exam(s) when applying to professional school in the future.

If you meet our qualifications, then you must check the Pre-Medical and Health Professions Program box as part of the online undergraduate application when applying to the University to be reviewed for admission into the program.

If you do not currently meet the first-year admission standards, don't worry, you may apply later, after at least one semester of enrollment, through the Secondary Admission process. Secondary Admission applications are accepted at the end of each semester. If you are a student at Duquesne, you should talk to your Student Success Coach about your interest and intent to apply.

Undergraduate student retention standards are the same for all students in the PMHPP regardless of pathway for admission. A full description of this policy may be found in the PMHPP Student Handbook.

  • 3.0 Cumulative GPA and 3.0 Semester GPA
  • No grade lower than "C" in any course
  • 3.0 Cumulative and 3.0 Semester Math/Science GPA
  • 3.0 Cumulative and 3.0 Semester Science GPA
  • Consistent enrollment and passing grades in all PMHP and PBPM courses
  • Continual progress to acquire professional pre-requisites

Early Application Options

Early Assurance and Preferred Admission Review Programs

For our current PMHPP students, Duquesne has one Early Assurance Program, and one Preferred Admissions Review Program with:

  • Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) - Early Assurance
  • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) - Preferred Admission Review

These programs are applied to after the student is enrolled at Duquesne University and a student enrolled in the PMHPP, and are not freshman admit programs. More information is available through the PMHPP.

Admission requirements are subject to change at the discretion of medical programs listed above and are outside the control of the Pre-Medical and Health Professions Programs. These are competitive programs, and an interview and/or acceptance cannot be guaranteed. Final acceptance to these programs are at the sole discretion of the medical or health professional program.

**While Duquesne University is in the process of developing an osteopathic medical school, at the present time, there is no linkage or early assurance program with the PMHPP for the Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine.