If you have a question about scheduling your courses, you need to meet with an Academic Advisor from your school or college. This is based on your major. The Office of Pre-Professional Health Studies does not process course registration but rather focuses on student preparation for health professional schools.

Review the timelines listed on our website for information about the courses you will need to enter professional school. Based on these courses and any requirements for your major, you should begin to develop a personalized, comprehensive plan on how you anticipate completing requirements for Gen Ed courses, your major, and the courses for your intended career path. Since our office does not process course registration and works with students from a number of majors and schools, meeting with your Academic Advisor from your school or college will ensure that you are satisfying all of the proper requirements for your eventual degree completion.

All students who are new to our office are required to complete an introductory workshop called It All Starts Here. After registering with PPHA on the homepage, we will give you access It All Starts Here on Canvas. After completion of It All Starts Here, you will be given access to the PPHA Canvas page, where you can then schedule an appointment with a PPHA advisor.

We want to talk to you about your plans for preparing for professional school. In order to best do this, you should have some coursework already under your belt and have also begun shadowing, volunteering, or gaining some kind of healthcare exposure before sitting down to talk to a PPHA Advisor. If you have completed at least one semester as a Temple student, it is also helpful if you have calculated your most recent Math/Sci GPA (course work in only BIO, CHEM, MATH, or PHYS) so that we can better see where you currently stand as a future applicant.

You must have access to the PPHA Canvas page to schedule an appointment. After completing the It All Starts Here course on Canvas, you will be given access to the PPHA Canvas page, where you can schedule an appointment with a PPHA advisor.

We offer many other workshops throughout the year that you are encouraged to attend. Of particular mention, it is strongly recommended that you attend our ePortfolio Workshop in your first or second year as well as an Application Process Workshop in your third year.

Upcoming workshops can be found on our website.

All pre-health professional students pursuing careers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry, optometry, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant, or occupational therapy should prepare an ePortfolio in preparation for applying to their primary profession of choice. The ePortfolio will allow you to organize your information semester by semester as you prepare a competitive profile. All Temple students who are considering pre-health professional schools are encouraged to complete an eportfolio. There is no GPA or academic/professional profile requirement for submitting an ePortfolio. Two years before you apply, you will be asked to share your portfolio for review and consideration of a committee interview. Committee interviews occur a year before you apply.

Start by reviewing the timelines on our website. They are very detailed and include information on recommended course levels and specific course numbers for Temple Undergraduate Courses.

Usually when our Pre-Health Professional Timelines do not specify a course number, students have the option of taking an entry level course in that subject area to meet the requirement. When in doubt, we recommend students review the website of their intended schools for pre-requisite course descriptions.

Depending on the number of AP credits in pre-requisite science courses, it may be recommended that students consider retaking courses in the core sciences rather than passing out of more than two courses. Doing this ensures that you maintain a strong background in the sciences building up to taking until you take your entrance exam for professional school. Having the ability to place out of a course means that you did very well in this subject in the past. If you are taking it at the college level, this is a great opportunity to show your mastery of the subject and maintain a strong GPA in the sciences.

You may, however, use your AP credits to pass out of a few science courses. If you choose to do so, it is recommended that you take an equal amount of credits in upper-level science electives of the same subject to demonstrate your continued understanding.

Calculus based Physics (2021, 2022) is preferred. This course is required for most College of Science and Technology Degrees and may be required by some professional schools.

Algebra based Physics (1061, 1062) will be accepted by some programs, but may not be in line with your major or degree requirements. Consult your academic advisor from your school or college and look into professional programs of interest to ensure you are taking the appropriate level.

Yes, there will be occasions when you will take three science courses in the same semester. As you plan your personalized timeline however, you should not schedule three sciences in the first semester at Temple. Once you have determined your academic strengths as a college student at Temple, after the first semester, you can consider and re-evaluate how you schedule / plan your coursework in future semesters.

Pre-requisite science courses are important to your eventual success on entrance exams as well as in professional school. These courses should therefore be kept during the regular semesters. The only exception is Calc I&II (only if students have a strong profile in Math).

Depending on your Math placement, this will change how you will proceed with courses in the sciences. First, please do not think of yourself as being behind in the courses. Based on your placement, work on your timeline to determine by when you will complete the pre-requisites which will then determine by when you will submit an application to professional schools.

Do not try to rush and catch up with the requirements by taking four sciences in a semester. This will usually result in lower grades not due to lack of potential, but due to lack of time to produce your best academic work. Health professional schools will look at an overall GPA and a Science GPA (or a pre-requisite GPA for PT and OT programs). They do not focus on whether it took four or five years (or more) to complete your undergraduate education.

Yes. Most professional school applications will calculate math courses along with courses from biology, chemistry, and physics in the science GPA. Once an application is submitted, some professional schools may consider the science GPA calculation with as well as without math.

No. You should select a major based on your academic strength and academic interest. You do not have to be a science major, but you do have to fulfill the course requirements for health professional school. If not majoring in a science, you will need to take upper level sciences as well in order to ensure you have a strong foundation as you prepare to enter health professional school. Note that some health professional schools do have preferences for certain majors (as an example, some dental schools prefer Biology majors).

If there is a pattern for repeating or withdrawing from courses, this is viewed as an inability to handle a rigorous course load. On occasion, students will consider withdrawing or dropping a course because if not, it will bring down their academic performance for all courses taken that semester. This goes back to careful planning and knowing your academic strengths as you are planning your schedule. If you do have to repeat a course, make sure you receive a strong grade the second time around.

NOTE: When you repeat a course, both are factored into the Science and Overall GPA calculations on applications to health professional schools.

A competitive applicant will have a competitive academic profile, as well as a strong profile outside of the classroom for exposure to their profession of choice, health care in general, and community service activities. The addition of research activities is also an asset, but does not replace the need for exposure to the profession.

We do not have a 'magic list' of where you should gain exposure to healthcare. Many of these opportunities change each year depending on funding. Also, each experience you obtain should engage you in unique and personal ways. We would not be doing students a favor by informing everyone to volunteer at the same location. Start with your own contacts (family, friends) and then begin to branch out. Google is your best friend! There are thousands of opportunities out there that will engage you in the healthcare field or the surrounding community.

The Pre-Health Resource Fair is offered every Spring semester and is a great opportunity for students to connect with volunteering and community service opportunities.

You can visit our website and Canvas where we post information on any new or upcoming events for our students. You can register for our Canvas page here.

You should enjoy your years as an undergraduate student. If for you this includes adding an experience abroad (as a study abroad course for credit, semester abroad, or as a non-credit special program summer activity) you should consider taking advantage of these opportunities. Yes, this does enhance your application because you as an applicant have been enriched by these activities. Consider these opportunities as they factor into your plans for completing pre-requisites and applying to health professional school.

Letters of recommendation are a required part of a professional application. Requirements may differ depending on the profession. Please review details regarding specific letter requirements for your profession, which can be found on page two (page four for Pharmacy) of the PPHA timelines.