Established over 100 years ago in 1913, the Pre-Health Professions Institute supports all TCU students on the career tracks of: pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-physician assistant, pre-veterinary, pre-pharmacy, pre-podiatry, and pre-optometry. Over the past 30 years, approximately 1,000 pre-health alumni have been accepted to professional schools around the country, including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York University, Columbia University, and all Texas medical and dental schools.
Supporting pre-health students is the Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) which is comprised of twenty-five faculty and staff from the College of Science & Engineering that are dedicated pre-health advisors. HPAC provides advising for all pre-health students, offers “mock” interviews for all applicants to professional school, and supports applicants with letters of evaluation.
Students have the chance to work one-on-one with faculty conducting independent research through the support of undergraduate research grants. They also have access to a clinical observation program that gives them the opportunity to shadow doctors, dentists, physician assistants, and veterinarians in more than 20 clinics and hospitals.
Internships are available to pre-health students to gain valuable experience in several areas of medicine including emergency medicine, oncology, fetal health care, and public health at a local full-service health clinic setting.
The Pre-health Institute offers a bi-monthly seminar series, chemistry and biology tutoring, global health events, volunteer opportunities, a peer-mentor program, and student leadership opportunities.
Students can join a variety of pre-health clubs including: Texas Zeta, TCU’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta Honor Society; Doctors without Borders; Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students; Pre-Dental Club; Pre-Physician Assistant Club; Pre-Veterinary Club; United Against Inequities in Disease.
Finally, students can gain valuable leadership experience in the areas of tutoring, being a peer mentor, or serving on the Pre-health Leadership Council (PLC). The PLC consists of the positions of Special Events Coordinator (2), Clinical Observations Coordinator (3); Speaker Series Coordinator; Volunteer Activities Coordinator (2), Ambassador Coordinator (2), and Pre-health Club Liaison. These leadership roles serve a dual purpose of creating leadership experiences and developing leader potential, while creating vital student support and ownership of our programs and events.
The Pre-health Professions Institute has been developed with an end goal of complete support and resources for students on the pre-health career tracks, giving them the tools they need to succeed beyond their experience at TCU.