Pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, pre-veterinary medicine, and pre-law are not undergraduate majors at the University of Washington, but rather suggested programs of study that prepare you to apply to professional programs. Many professional programs prefer or require a bachelor's degree, so you should plan to complete an undergraduate major as well as the prerequisites of the professional program in which you are interested. In all cases, your choice of major does not affect your chances of admission to a professional program; choose a major in which you are interested, with coursework you enjoy.
Although the UW has a medical school, a dental school, and a law school, no preference is shown toward students who complete their undergraduate degrees at the University of Washington. The UW does not have a veterinary school; UW students apply to the veterinary school at Washington State University.
Elementary and secondary teacher certifications are master's degree programs at the UW. Students planning on applying to the elementary certification program may complete almost any undergraduate major. Students planning on secondary teaching normally major in the subjects they plan to teach in high school, and are strongly encouraged to complete minors as well. For both programs, some specific undergraduate courses and some teaching experience are required before application to the master's programs.
UW's School of Pharmacy offers a Pharm.D. degree. Students pursuing pre-pharmacy complete two college years of prerequisites and then apply to the program, which is four years long (NOTE: these requirements may increase soon). UW also has a master's degree program in occupational therapy and a doctoral degree in physical therapy; students interested in applying to these programs must complete a number of prerequisite undergraduate courses, but can complete any undergraduate major.
Although there are no schools of osteopathic medicine, optometry, or podiatry in the state, UW students can complete the prerequisites and apply to schools in other states.
You might also be interested in the following websites:
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Naturopathic medicine
See also Bastyr University -
Midwifery
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Chiropractic
- Physician's Assistant
- UW's
MEDEX program
Northwest Physician Assistant Training Program
The book Careers in Health Care, by Barbara Swanson, covers nearly every allied health area from anesthesiologist's assistant to surgical technologist. Copies are available at the undergraduate library.
