At Wittenberg you will receive a strong foundation in both the sciences and the liberal arts, an excellent base for admission to medical or other health profession schools. The Pre-Health Professions program is designed to give you opportunities to excel in academics, internships, research and co-curricular activities.

The academic program at Wittenberg is enhanced by collaborative relationships between students and faculty. All courses and laboratories are taught by professors, not teaching assistants, giving students a chance to interact easily with the faculty. During your time at Wittenberg, you should get to know faculty who can write letters of evaluation for your application to professional or graduate school programs.

Regardless of your major, you will have access to modern equipment in the sciences as you take prerequisite courses for one of the health profession schools. For example, the Chemistry Department has a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR), as well as molecular modeling and laser spectroscopy labs, and the Biology Department has both scanning and transmission electron microscopes in addition to centrifuges, spectro-photometers and physiographs. Both departments have new computer labs for student use. The hands-on experience you receive in laboratory classes helps you apply theory to practice and develop critical thinking and research skills.

Your experiences outside of the classroom will help prepare you for another health profession school. You might volunteer in a local emergency room, intern with a Springfield physician, volunteer at the Humane Society, shadow a dentist, participate in student government, or serve as an officer in the Pre-Health Professions Club. All of these experiences combine to give you valuable leadership and communications

Programs offered
Pre-Medicine, Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Optometry and Pre-Veterinary: Wittenberg offers all courses required for admission to professional health schools, as well as preparation for standardized admission tests (MCAT, DAT, OAT, GRE). Special academic advisers ensure that interested students fulfill these course requirements, provide access to internship/shadowing programs, and facilitate the health school application process.

Nursing: Wittenberg has cooperative programs in nursing with the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. Pre-nursing students spend three years at Wittenberg completing all prerequisite courses and general education requirements and then transfer to either Johns Hopkins or Case Western for two to four additional years. After completing the first year at Johns Hopkins or Case Western, students receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wittenberg. Students must then pass the professional licensing examination (NCLEX-RN). Depending upon the program chosen, students either pursue a Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) or a Doctor of Nursing (N.D.).

Occupational Therapy: Wittenberg has a cooperative program with Washington University in St. Louis. Students attend Witten-berg for three years completing all prerequisite courses and general education requirements and then transfer to Washington University. After completing the first year at Washington's School of Occupa-tional Therapy, students receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wittenberg. After an additional year a Master of Science in occupational therapy is awarded by Washington University, and board certification can be obtained.

*Although Wittenberg students are given preferential consideration in the application process, admission to these programs is not guaranteed.

Requirements
(for medical, dental, optometry and veterinary schools) Pre-health students usually major in one of the sciences, often biology or chemistry. A major in any field is acceptable to most health profession schools as long as all required courses are completed. Students are encouraged to complete an internship with a practitioner in their field. Students also must score well on the appropriate standardized test, such as the MCAT (medical), DAT (dental), OAT (optometry) or GRE (veterinary).