The path to becoming a physician is long and challenging, and being a pre-medical student is hard. Learn about what you need to do to get into medical school successfully.
Research data on optimal health professional application timelines, including application prep, entrance exam timing, and secondary submission strategies.
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated June 2, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Higher education has seen a demographic shift, with more high school students or graduates taking community college coursework before entering undergraduate study. More opportunities highlight jobs that do not require bachelor’s degrees to engage more ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated January 16, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD
For years, you’ve worked to perfect your application to medical school (or other health professional program). You’ve taken the tests, gotten the grades, and aced your interview, and are thrilled when you get accepted by ... Read more
Laura Turner
Updated December 10, 2024 by Laura Turner
Generally, most health professionals thrive on being problem-solvers. When meeting patients, many professionals take on the role of sleuth to diagnose the problems that address the chief complaints. With a toolkit of therapies and therapeutics, ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated December 5, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
In a previous article, I discussed the advantages engineering-trained applicants bring to the health professions. For this article, we asked the admissions team at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED) about the unique ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated October 31, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
College athletics have been in the spotlight over the last decade. Athletes can now financially benefit from name-image-likeness (NIL) agreements, and women’s athletics have grown in popularity. While a handful of athletes bask in the ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated October 16, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Prehealth advising offices are a hybrid of academic advising, career and student services, and scientific education to support dozens of students interested in the health professions. The first prehealth advisors were likely college professors who ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated September 25, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
NOTE: In this article, “engineering” can refer to quantitative analytical subjects like physics, mathematics, computer science, or finance/economics, but I mostly focus on “biomedical engineers (also known as, bioengineers)” seeking health professional careers. As president ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated September 11, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
The Greatest Common Factor (GCF) between two numbers is the largest positive integer that can divide both numbers evenly (without remainders). Prime factorization of the two numbers can reveal the GCF. This SDN Forums discussion ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated April 17, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Welcome to the new academic year and first-year orientation! As a new freshman resident of our Prehealth Living Learning Community Dormitory, I share your great enthusiasm for your new life independent of the rest of ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated August 7, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Whether it is an internship or a graduate school application, letters of recommendation are generally expected or required for all applicants to affirm your fit with the program and potential as a professional. Here are ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated July 3, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Compilations like the MSAR, the ChooseDO, the VMSAR, or the ADEA DSE are essential tools to compare your application profile against historical trends, and I’ve given instructions previously on how to build your best school ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated May 30, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
The reason why you invest so much in your professional education is the trust that the learning process will prepare you for your next career step. This plan is known as a curriculum, and unlike ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated May 22, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Since 2020, applicants for health professional programs have had to prepare for online and on-campus interview formats. While the public is focused on generative artificial intelligence’s impact, admissions teams benefit from technologies to engage and ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated May 8, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
One of the most important rules in medical or dental school admissions is to “apply early with your best possible, complete application.” The strongest applicants take this advice to heart, preparing their applications starting in ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated April 11, 2024 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Could you see yourself founding a club on campus? What about leading a group of your peers and gaining clinical experience? APSEA has what you are searching for! APSEA, the American Preventive Screening and Education ... Read more
APSEA
Updated April 9, 2024 by APSEA
In 2023, AAMC revised the AAMC Premed Competencies to align with the PREview situational judgment test, incorporate changes in medical education after the COVID-19 pandemic, and emphasize the importance of embracing community diversity and inclusion ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated April 17, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD
Over a decade ago, I wrote a series of articles (here is Part 1) that heralded the growing importance of understanding “competency.” Over the last decade, I developed rubrics for academic and pre-professional competencies to ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated April 17, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD
The Health Professional Student Association recently completed its 2023 HPSA/SDN Situational Judgment Test Experience survey. An executive summary is available, and the full report can be separately requested. Here is a summary of the findings. ... Read more
Emil Chuck, PhD
Updated April 17, 2025 by Emil Chuck, PhD