Pre-Health Courses

AHS 1101: Orientation to Health Careers 

This one-credit (1 cr) course is designed for students interested in exploring the many career paths available in health care. This course will help students decide if a career in the health professions is a good fit for them.

Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own values, skills and interests. They will also hear first-hand from an extensive line-up of guest speakers and learn more about the academic and experiential requirements for health professional schools at the University, and programs outside the University as well. Activities include interest inventories, discussions, journaling, developing an action plan, and other reflective assignments.

Students will:

• Assess their own interests, values, personality and abilities as relate to health careers.
• Through guest speakers, class discussions and the media, gain an understanding of the competencies, professionalism and decision-making skills needed to succeed in health professions.
• Learn about health-related academic majors and health professions through resource exploration, informational interviews, and presentations by guest health professionals.
• Integrate the acquired knowledge to develop goals and an action plan to pursue their career choice.

Fall 2024: Meets in-person, Mondays 3:35 - 4:25pm

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

Interested in exploring health careers, but can't fit AHS 1101 in your schedule? Try AHS 1102 for an online, asynchronous option! 

AHS 1102: Orientation to Health Careers 

This online, one-credit course is for undergraduate students who are exploring health majors and professions. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own values, skills and interests as they learn about the academic and experiential requirements for the University of Minnesota health professional schools.

Activities include interest inventories, discussions, journaling, developing an action plan, and other reflective assignments. This course will help students decide if a career in the health professions is a good fit for them.

Students will:

• Assess vocational interests, values and behavioral styles.
• Explore issues related to professionalism and ethics in healthcare.
• Learn about health-related academic majors and professions through resource exploration, informational interviews and presentations by health professional faculty.

Offered Fall, Spring, Summer. Note that credit will not be granted if credit has been received for AHS 1101.

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

AHS 1104: Experiences in Health is a two-credit, in-person spring semester course designed for students enrolled in the Health Professions Pathways program. Classes will be in the classroom every third week, and the other class days will be spent in an experiential learning opportunity in one of our health science schools. This course will involve hands-on learning in collaboration with many of our health science programs at the University, including the Dentistry, Medical Lab Science, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Public Health, and Veterinary Medicine programs. This course is designed for those interested in exploring a variety of health professions, learning about the different roles of a healthcare team, as well as the attributes and qualities of interprofessional teams in healthcare. The course will also cover materials related to professional development and preparation for a health professional program.

To be eligible for this course, students must be in the Health Profession Pathways Program, and have completed AHS 1101, 1102, or 1611. 

This course is designed to introduce students to the field of medicine and healthcare. Topics are chosen by physicians based on the hot topics they identify that shape the work they do in medicine. These include: history of medicine, pop culture, technology, ethics, politics, racism, social determinants and many more subjects that influence the every-day work of physicians. Students interested in exploring the field of medicine and learning about healthcare will be able to use the content in this course to build their medical school portfolio, or even prepare for a medical school interview.

This course is taught collaboratively by Dr. Andrew Slattengren, Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and Tricia Todd, MPH, Director of the Pre-Health Student Resource Center, University of Minnesota.

Fall 2024: Meets in-person, Wednesdays 3:35 - 4:25pm 

Details:

• 1 credit
• Offered: Fall semester
• Prerequisites: None
• Registration: No Permission number required. Some seats reserved for incoming freshman, otherwise open enrollment.

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

Explore the field of medicine and learn about the various specialties by interacting with guest physician speakers from the University of Minnesota Medical School and the community. Learn to think critically about the challenges and opportunities you will face as a physician and explore your own motivations and fit with a career in medicine.

This course is taught by Dr. Andrew Slattengren, Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and Tricia Todd, MPH, Director of the Pre-Health Student Resource Center, University of Minnesota.

Spring 2025: This course will be taught in-person on Wednesdays, 3:35 - 4:25pm.

Details:

• 1 credit
• Offered: Spring semester
• You do not need a permission number to register for this course
• It is not required to take AHS 1611 before taking AHS 1612 - the courses can be taken in any order 

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

This course formerly known as AHS 1602. 

The AHS 1613 course has recently expanded so it is now open for students interested in all health professions, not just medicine. The updated AHS 1613: Experiences in Health Care and Public Health is a course where any pre-health student will participate in a service learning experience in a health care or public health community setting throughout the semester. 

Through course activities, students engage in a number of reflective exercises, learn about interprofessional teams, and continue to prepare all the pieces of their application to health professional programs. This course requires you to complete 35 hours of volunteer experience in a health care or public health setting.

Details:

• 2 credits
• Offered online (asynchronous): Fall, Spring
• This class is open to all undergraduate majors who are sophomore, junior, or senior-standing. There are no required prerequisite courses. 

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

This course introduces pre-health undergraduates to research and clinical research. Research is a very broad field, so it is critical for students to explore and develop a baseline of their research interests before entering a research lab. The research exploration and application process can be daunting, therefore this course will focus on the overarching aspects of research in order to support students on their journey to becoming future researchers. This course will also focus on the differences between bench research and clinical research.

Offered Fall 2024

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

Many students find that writing the personal statement is the most challenging part of applying to a health professional degree program. AHS 3401 is a one-credit course that will keep you on track to write a compelling and unique personal statement. In this highly interactive course, you will:

• Build your story through critical reflection,
• Develop an organized approach to writing,
• Receive continuous feedback from peers and your instructors throughout each phase of the writing process.

Offered Fall and Spring as an online, synchronous course

Use the UMN Class Search or Schedule Builder resources to learn more and register.

To be eligible for AHS 3401: 

Students must have a competitive GPA, and be within one year of submitting their application for a health professional degree program (e.g. medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, etc.). 

Application Deadline - October 1, 2024

AHS 3002: Global Health in Thailand is a 3-credit winter break program, and combines two weeks in Thailand with seven classes, one hour each week from January through March. This class, led by health professionals, looks at the Sustainable Development Goals and culture along with some visits to elephant facilities. The future health of our world’s population requires a generation of creative, motivated, strategic, expansive thinkers prepared to collaborate across disciplines and sectors to proactively address the causes of poor health in patients and populations.

Over two weeks in Thailand, learn about the role of elephants in the Thai culture and how this influences a variety of factors that affect both human and animal health. Learn about Thai healthcare for humans, as well as for animals. Grow in an understanding of Thailand’s progress toward a number of SDGs and learn the role and impact culture has on that progress. Upon returning to the U of M, continue exploring global health by comparing and contrasting SDGs in Thailand and Minnesota during seven weeks of class.

Read about AHS 3002 on our Global Programs page and fill out the application on the Learning Abroad Center website. 

In a 2000 World Health Organization report, France was recognized as the best health care system in the world for access to and quality of health care delivery. Southern France, especially Montpellier, is known as not only one of the most advanced and prolific biotechnology hubs in Europe and arguably the world, but also as the home to the oldest active school of medicine.

In this Global Seminar, explore France’s evolving development in health and society, with a particular focus on innovation in the health care sector. Examine the structure of health care systems and reimagine the concept of “socialized medicine” through an understanding of the origins and continued development of the French health care system. Learn about the cultural contexts and societal conditions that support such a thriving industry, as well as the effects of globalization on the health care sector and on broader global health.  

• On-campus class meetings over B-term of the Spring 2025 semester
• Travel to France occurs during May Session 2025
• 3-credit course
• This Global Seminar is led by Dana Lovold, MPH, Career Counselor and Instructor, Pre-Health Student Resource Center and Dr. Karin Hamilton, DVM, MPH, Coordinator and Instructor, Global Programs, Pre-Health Student Resource Center

Read more about AHS 3003 on our Global Programs page and fill out the application on the Learning Abroad Center website. 

During the first half of the spring semester at the U of M, students will learn about the challenges and opportunities of addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Ecuador while comparing and contrasting with the US and/or Minnesota. Students will work in teams who will be tasked to focus on a perspective of a Sustainable Development Goal throughout the semester. Students will also learn very basic Spanish words and phrases in preparation for time in Ecuador. Through taking and learning about the Intercultural Development Inventory and cultural development and reflection activities including Observe, Describe, Interpret, and Evaluate (ODIE), students will learn more about their own cultures while preparing to openly experience cultures in Ecuador.

During their time abroad, students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned in the early Spring semester to observations and experiences in Ecuador. The teams will ask questions during site visits from their assigned SDG perspective in preparation for their final project on SDG’s in Ecuador. Students will have the opportunity to observe the relationship between international development and local development and the impacts on health and environment. Students will learn about the organization of the health system in Ecuador in the public and private sphere, and how ancestral western and Andean concepts contrast with each other in development and public health. Upon returning to Minnesota, the students will participate in re-entry activities, present their final project, and have a final class debrief. 

• Spring 2025
• This course will be taught by PHSRC Staff
• 3 credits; meets Global Perspectives LE

Read about AHS 3004 on our Global Programs page and fill out the application on the Learning Abroad Center website.