Why Pursue Health Professions?
Healthcare practitioners are needed in the United States and throughout the world to address the needs of those suffering from illness and disease and promote health and wellness to all individuals. The Health Professions Program provides personalized advising and support services, encouraging students to be intentional and strategic toward the pursuit of a career in the health professions. Such practices help aid the development of character traits and demonstrate the compassionate heart of Christ to others enabling students to become leaders within healthcare fields, building the church and benefitting society worldwide. Ultimately, we aim to enhance your overall development and future success in a healthcare career.
Why Pursue Health Professions at Wheaton?
The Health Professions office provides an array of support services and opportunities to enhance and facilitate the students' formation of a pathway to the health profession of their choosing. You’ll get one-on-one advising, small group workshops, and events aimed to help you explore and understand our healthcare environment. We also host a mock interview evening with local alumni physicians to help you hone your interviewing skills. When it comes time to apply to health professions schools, we’ll be there to help.
- We regularly bring in Wheaton alumni from the healthcare fields to share their experience, and resources are provided to help student find volunteer opportunities in the community.
- The Pre-Health Club is a student organization, which connects students with ways to exercise practical service, minister in the health professions, and prepare for professional school and other scientific fields. The club offers students unique opportunities through student mentoring, volunteer opportunities within the surrounding community, and events each year designed to provide students with the resources and skills necessary to succeed in their chosen field of study.
- Candice Eisenhauer, M.Ed., Director, Health Professions, is a member of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP) and served on the board of directors for the central region (CAAHP) of the national organization (NAAHP) from 2019-2021.
All work is worship. We help you reflect on how you can incorporate your faith with your health profession of choice and how your faith will guide your future practice.
You’ll be encouraged to develop character traits that will allow you to demonstrate the compassionate heart of Christ to others and become a leader within your chosen health profession.
- A Spring Break trip through the Office of Ministry & Evangelism allows students to observe a variety of different healthcare professionals in Wichita, Kansas.
- Health Professions Practicum course provides local observation experiences with health professionals.
- Department-sponsored lunch and dinner events with Wheaton alumni healthcare professionals
- Visits to and from health professional schools and admissions representatives
- Observational experiences with local healthcare practitioners
- Notification of national summer research and volunteer opportunities
- Mock Interview evening with local alumni physicians
What Will I Learn?
Students can declare a specific goal based on the intended future profession (Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Physical Therapy, etc.). Advising is centered upon the declared interest.
You will be guided to take specific prerequisite courses at Wheaton, in concert with your general education and major requirements. Resources and support are targeted to you within each particular professional interest area.
The Health Professions program offers an opportunity for students to discuss current topics within the healthcare field and interact with healthcare professionals, hearing first-hand stories of the challenges and joys of serving others in a variety of healthcare careers. Two courses are taught during the year providing unique experiences for students to engage, explore and personally reflect upon various issues within the healthcare environment.
Students interested in the field of nursing can opt to complete the nursing major which is part of a dual degree program offered at Wheaton. While at Wheaton College, students complete three years of general education and pre-requisite course study. In the beginning of the third year, students apply to one or more nursing programs to complete the nursing curriculum. The specific program determines the length of time to complete the nursing degree. One program can be completed in fourteen months after Wheaton and the other programs take two years.
Consult the course catalog for full listing of current courses available in this field.
Careers in the Health Professions
With self-assessment and reflection, graduates consider whether they are well-suited for a health profession related to diagnosing and treating; an associated field; a rehabilitating profession; an administrative field; or an affiliated field independent but related to health care.
Among students who have studied at Wheaton College, the overall acceptance rate to medical and dental schools including first and subsequent attempts was approximately 74.8% for the 21-year period from 1993 to 2014.
For the 2017 cycle, 91% of the Wheaton graduating seniors applying to medical schools were accepted.
For the 2017 cycle, 100% of the Wheaton senior students applying to dental schools were accepted.
For the 2017 cycle, 78% of the Wheaton students who applied with a 3.4 CUM Undergraduate GPA or higher, 3.3 SCI CUM Undergraduate GPA or higher and a 28 or 504 MCAT score or higher received acceptance to at least one allopathic medical school.
- Case Western Reserve University
- Rush Medical College
- Texas A&M University
- University of Arkansas
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- University of Missouri
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Wright State University
- Boston University School of Public Health
- Belmont University School of Physical Therapy
- Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions
- Duke University, Physician Assistant Program
- Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Saint Louis University Doisy College of Health Sciences
- St. Louis College of Pharmacy
- Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine
- Vanderbilt University School of Nursing