Pre-Medical Studies

Medicine is not just a career, but a calling; not just a living, but a life.

Pre-Medical Studies at Oglethorpe is not a major; instead, it is a special advising area that complements your major and prepares you for application to a graduate program.

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So you want to be a doctor! As an undergrad, you’ll begin with the Pre-Med program: a selection of foundational courses that offer important preparation and fulfill key eligibility requirements for admission to medical school. These courses are taken in addition to your major.

While many Pre-Med students choose a science-rich major like biology or chemistry, others look for philosophical grounding in the humanities. Both paths are welcomed at Oglethorpe, where we celebrate the value of interconnections between disciplines.

At Oglethorpe, you’ll also find exceptional mentorship and one-on-one advising. The Pre-Med path can be a challenging one: from planning out key coursework and studying for the MCAT, to acing the med school admissions process. But it’s a lot easier when you have expert faculty members guiding you every step of the way. Oglethorpe’s small class sizes mean that professors get to know each student. So you’ll always have someone to turn to for help.

Pre-Veterinary – Pre-Professional Advising

Combine your passion for medicine with your love of animals, and pursue a career as a veterinarian. It’s a great way to help pets… and the families that care for them. And with 218 million pets currently in the U.S., and more than $60 Billion in annual spending, there’s a lot to keep a good veterinarian busy. So veterinarians enjoy a strong and stable career outlook with lucrative and rewarding work. They typically work in private practice, whether in a solo or group office; some may find work at zoos or animal welfare organizations.

The pre-veterinary advising is a selection of courses designated to produce graduates who are strongly qualified for admission into veterinary school. As a student, you’ll take these courses alongside your primary major.

Real-World Experience
Life After Oglethorpe

As a major metropolitan hub, Atlanta is one the nation’s largest healthcare markets, with several vast hospital networks (the Emory Healthcare system alone sees more than 625,000 patients a year). Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is right next door. Whether you hope to one day serve patients through private practice, or work in a laboratory pursuing life-saving research, Atlanta is the perfect place to get your start.

Atlanta abounds with opportunities for experiential learning and direct experience in the medical field. Students can interface with a wide variety of nearby hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices.

Polish your credentials and refine your resume. Oglethorpe Pre-Med students benefit from competitive internship opportunities at organizations like the Atlanta Urology Association, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital, the CDC, National Institutes for Health, Northside Hospital, Providence Hospital (in Mobile, Ala.), Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center, and more.

Through community-focused research projects, students get a chance to apply their knowledge to the real world, while making a difference. For example, Pre-Med students collaborated on CDC research regarding disease outbreaks in Iowa after major floods.

With the strong foundation you receive at Oglethorpe, you’ll be ready to pursue a career in any field of allopathic, osteopathic, or podiatric medicine.

When it comes to admission to medical school, Oglethorpe Pre-Med students enjoy a particularly high success rate. For those who fully complete all aspects of the program, about 80 percent gain entrance to med school.

Recent Oglethorpe graduates are attending medical school at institutions such as Emory University, Harvard University, Medical College of Georgia, Meharry Medical College, Mercer University, Morehouse School of Medicine, University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of Pittsburgh, University of South Carolina, and Vanderbilt University.

Monique Anderson, M.D. ’01, studied at Harvard Medical School, completed her residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is now faculty at Duke Medical School. The cardiologist saves lives even when she is not in the hospital.

Dr. Steve Sorci ’08, Pre-Med and Biology at Oglethorpe, Resident of the Year at Northside Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Amel Komic M.D. ’09 studied at the Medical College of Georgia and is a research fellow at MCG.
Harsh Patel ‘15 studies at the Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine.
Ty Murphy ’16 studies the University of Florida School of Medicine.
Karina Pinal ’18 studies Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia.