Health and Medicine Majors
The M.D. is perhaps our culture's most celebrated and rewarded professional. But do you have to be a medical doctor to be happy? If your goal is to work in the interest of human (or animal) health, you have many other options. And you'll be glad to know that you can choose from many different academic avenues to get there.
Clinical Sciences
Doctors are not the only clinicians (professionals who work with patients). In fact, many people actually visit advanced-practice nurses or physician assistants when they "see the doctor." These highly trained pros spend most of their time working without direct supervision and can usually prescribe medication. Physician assistants hold bachelor's degrees while advanced-practice nurses often earn master's degrees after earning the R.N.
If you'd like to focus on prevention, you might enjoy the study of nutrition which can lead to a career as a nutritionist or dietician. You'll balance hard-science courses with clinical experience in which you'll practice applying science to the needs of clients—designing personalized diets, for example.
Still another area of study is speech-language pathology and audiology. If you'd like to help stroke survivors, people who stutter, others who have difficulty speaking, the Deaf, or the hard of hearing, this is the field for you. Keep in mind that you'll need a master's degree to work as a professional.
Therapy and Rehabilitation
Therapy students learn how to help recovering patients overcome barriers to living life to its fullest. They often begin where medicine leaves off. While music therapy and therapeutic recreation can be studied at the undergraduate level, physical, occupational, and dance therapy are studied at the master's level.
Medical Technology
Even with only two years of post-secondary schooling, you can make a valuable contribution. Medical technologists fill hospitals and doctor's offices. They clean teeth, take x-rays, give expectant moms a first glimpse of their babies, perform lab tests, assist in human and animal surgery—and much more.
The Road to Professional School
It may surprise you to know that very few schools offer official premed majors. Instead, they offer premed advising programs that do not lead to a degree. If you sign up for a premed program, you'll choose a major, most likely in biology or chemistry, but not necessarily. You'll also meet with an advisor who specializes in helping students get into med school; take courses, such as organic chemistry, that you'll need to get in; and prepare for the MCAT. Similar programs exist for prevet, predentistry, and prepharmacy students.
Learn More about Your Options
You can read more about any of the majors and advising programs mentioned here. They're just a handful of the health and medicine majors profiled on this website. Here's a sampling:
- Athletic Training
- Clinical Laboratory Science
- Diagnostic Medical Sonography
- Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies
- Health Sciences
- Music Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Physician Assistance
- Predentistry
- Premedicine
- Prepharmacy
- Preveterinary Studies
- Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
- Veterinary Technology
