Frequently Asked Prehealth Questions

No, there are no majors that give you a competitive advantage nor are their required majors to be prehealth.       We have students who matriculate to health professions programs, including medical school, with almost every major.  This includes Major II!  Most health professional schools value genuine intellectual curiosity so study what you find most interesting.

No, multiple majors do not help your chances.  Most health professions schools value academics as a foundation but since they also value experiential learning they look beyond your major.  We encourage you to be thoughtful on whether double or co-majoring will result in less time to engage with other important activities.

Most likely.  Many health professions programs require or strongly recommend courses in these areas.  Additionally, those planning to take the MCAT will need a psychology and sociology course as a quarter of the MCAT tests college level psychology and sociology.

There is no one set of courses that will prepare you perfectly for every health professions career and/or program.       Utilize our course planning resources to create a customized list based on your career path admission test(s) and schools of interest.  You may also consider courses that support your niche areas of interest within healthcare such as policy, economics, global health, culturally competent care and more.

There are several factors to consider here.  The first is whether it is a prehealth prerequisite.  If so, most schools will not accept an S/U for a prerequisite while also requiring a prerequisite be a C or above. 

If you are in the C or above range and it is a prerequisite, finishing the course is likely your best choice.  If you are in the D or below range and it is a prerequisite, withdrawing from the course is likely your best choice.  If you are considering these questions for a course that is not a prerequisite it is likely health professions programs will pay more attention to whether this is part of a pattern rather than the actual individual course. 

There are reasons that the above guidance may not work for your situation, so please consult with your prehealth advisor if you have extenuating life circumstances.

Most prehealth programs require prerequisite courses be for a grade if a grade is an option.  If the course is not a prerequisite, it is likely fine to S/U, but please ensure you earn an S.

Most likely no.  Most health professions programs accept prerequisites with C or above.  Some PA programs require a B- or above so please pay special attention to schools of interest if you’re pursuing a PA career.

Schools in general look for overall academics and trends.  If your grades and understanding of material is not what you hoped please seek academic support via the ARC. 

Yes, if you are taking Organic Chemistry, or any prerequisite, and earn a C- or below you will need to retake the course.  HPA strongly recommends retaking the course prior to moving on in the sequence.  (aka retake Orgo I before moving on to Orgo II). 

Duke policy says you can retake a D or below at Duke but C- will need to be retaken at a different institution. 

Health professions schools look at overall trends so focus on what you can do to improve moving forward.  Make sure you’re attending office hours and utilizing ARC!  Talking with your prehealth advisor can also help you determine if you should consider adding additional science courses to help continue to demonstrate academic success and readiness.  

Transitions can be challenging and health professions schools are aware of this.  What they’ll look for next is growth.  Reflect on what was challenging and plan for support and to make changes.  Common changes that can be helpful are: utilizing office hours and/or tutoring, adding new study skills that may not have been needed in high school, strengthening time management skills, ensuring you’re not overcommitted outside the classroom, ensuring better wellness with sleep, exercise and time to recharge.

In general yes, this is fine.  Most health professions schools will look for your coursework to be taken in person at a four-year institution in the US.  Do not take prereqs while abroad. 

Things to keep in mind if you’re considering taking courses elsewhere:

• Health professions programs look at trends so look to take the majority of your prerequisites in a full semester not just in the summer.
• When possible, you may want to take a sequence at a single institution.  For example, taking both Orgo chemistry courses at one school would be a good idea.
• While your grade somewhere else won’t go into your Duke GPA, it will go into your application GPA which schools will use to evaluate your academic readiness.

All coursework taken at the college level must be reported on your application to health professions graduate programs.  If you need or want the course to apply for graduation requirement purposes, you will need to transfer the course to Duke by following Pratt or Trinity guidelines.

In most instances your study abroad grades will go into your application GPAs, but prerequisites will not be accepted.  Plan to take courses for your Duke major and graduation requirements while abroad, not prehealth prerequisites.

Yes and no.  Many health professions programs look for exposure working with patients, not clinical skills particularly.  PA programs will however look for direct clinical experience.  All health professions programs will want to make sure you have enough experience working with patients that are not loved ones to confirm your career.

Medical schools will not include high school hours, but some other pathways might.

Caregiving can be a foundational reason for pursuing a health professions career for many students.  You likely gained important skills and insight.  However, caring for a loved one is very different than caring for strangers so you’ll want to ensure you have experience caring for non family members to demonstrate confirmation to health profession schools.  Some health profession pathways, like PA for example, do have clear definitions of what is considered clinical experience.

Yes, shadowing is a key component to help students understand each healthcare role.  This helps ensure you understand the scope, work and realities of the profession you are hoping to join.  We encourage shadowing across roles to help you explore professional interest and how your future colleagues will work alongside you.  

Some programs may explicility require a certain amount of shadowing as well.

Different health care professions look for different amounts of engagement with research.  Please see Pulse Check to determine what is best for your career goals.

Aim for getting information from multiple perspectives and sources.  Podcasts, news articles, books, LinkedIn, and professional organizations for your career role are all great places to hear from people directly practicing.

HPA also updates our advising & Pulse Check to reflect changes to expectations or requirements as we see them as well so staying connected with us is another great way to stay informed.

The MCAT is offered January- September.  You should take the MCAT after you take all required prerequisites (yes even after you take Physics II, psychology and sociology) but no later than April of the year you plan to apply.  The majority of Duke premeds will take the MCAT the summer after junior year or January of senior year. 

The DAT is offered year round.  It is recommended that you take the DAT after taking all prereqisites tested on the exam and no later than May of the year you plan to apply to dental school.

There are few hard and fast rules about retaking the MCAT which means you should schedule time to talk with your prehealth advisor if you’re considering retaking the MCAT or aren’t sure if you should.  Some medical schools may consider the average of your MCAT, and they’ll all see every attempt you make so retaking the MCAT should be considered carefully before doing it as you can score lower the second time.

Generally speaking you should consider retaking the MCAT if any subscore is 123 or lower and/or if your total score is sub 500.  If you are going to retake the MCAT you’ll want to aim for at least a 3 point increase, commit another 3 months to studying and plan to do something fairly different than your first attempt. 

While it is ok if you need to retake the MCAT, you should not enter your first attempt planning on retaking.

You should apply to your health professions school when you are the strongest applicant you can be.  Health profession programs do not include future activities in their evaluation of you.  Most programs will not find it impressive or change their expectations based on what class year you are applying as.  

Nearly 90% of all premeds apply with at least one gap year from Duke and the majority of all other prehealth applicants apply with 1-2 gap years.

Absolutely!  Most health profession programs are fine with multiple gap years.  You’ll have access to prehealth advising and application support with Duke HPA for 5 years post graduation

Healthcare programs are usually neutral about a faster pathway to graduation.  It is important to ensure you have not just the coursework, but the experiential profile needed to apply.  Sometimes graduating in three years can impact your ability to engage in other experiences.