At Stonehill, we offer a curriculum that provides a firm foundation for students intending to apply to professional school, and we have an immensely talented faculty who are truly dedicated to helping students achieve their goals. A student's success ultimately comes down to his or her commitment, perseverance, drive, and academic ability.
We are proud of our combination of challenging academics, quality practical experiences, and accessible advising. To view data on outcomes of the pre-health advising program from the past several years, please view our Health & Allied Health School Acceptance Information Sheet. It will provide the number of applicants, number of students accepted, and schools at which applicants have been accepted for various professional health programs. It will also contain information on allied health programs.
Deciding to pursue a career in health requires that you are well-informed. Part of our goal at Stonehill is to provide you with the information you will need to decide if a career in health care is right for you.
Health care is one of the most rapidly expanding areas of our society and therefore offers a variety of career opportunities. A career in health care has many obvious rewards, including intellectual stimulation, economic security, and pride in service. However, the choice to commit to the health profession also carries with it an enormous amount of responsibility.
Professional health school involves a long, strenuous course of study and may require that you spend several years in a residency program. After you have completed professional health school and received your certification, you will then have to spend time and effort keeping up with the technological developments in your field, so that you can provide your patients with best care possible.
The most important part of your decision is ensuring that you are committed to the particular health field that you pursue. When you choose the field you would like to enter, you are essentially choosing your life’s work. In professional school, you are trained to perform a specific function, and that is what you do. You usually cannot change fields within health care unless you reenter professional school. Choose wisely!
From first semester of freshman year to interview day, the Stonehill Pre-health advising team was a great resource and support system that helped guide my journey to medical school.
Before considering if a particular health care field suits you, you must decide if you are cut out for health care. The following are some points you should consider when evaluating your own interests and characteristics:
A warm and caring personality is one of the most desirable attributes for a health care professional that interacts with patients on a daily basis. As an exception, there are health care fields that do not require much patient interaction. For example, if you want to become a surgeon, it is more important to have good manual dexterity and to be able to stay calm under pressure than to have an outgoing personality.
Some programs demand much more science study than others, but preparation for all health care careers involves some laboratory science study.
Competent practitioners have an obligation to their patients to give the best care available. If you do not continue studying throughout your career, you will compromise your malpractice insurance and your license.
Some students fail to anticipate the effect of spending much of their life in the company of sick or dying people. With the aging of the American population, much of your work may be with the geriatric population. Many students also assume they will be working in a comfortable and familiar setting. However, the greatest health care needs are in lower-resourced areas. These can be busy urban areas or isolated rural communities. Do you have the spirit of service? Are you emotionally able to deal with a wide variety of people presenting an even wider variety of ailments and abilities? A good way to address these questions is through service during your undergraduate career.
Health care is increasingly a group activity where a successful outcome depends upon each member of a medical team performing his/her specific function.
We all have a preference to work individually or in a team, but we must all do both. Gain experience working in a team to develop a sense of how you show up, and how you typically contribute. Value other people’s opinions, evaluate plans, and collectively build a strategic response.
Some health care careers include many emergencies and long hours. This kind of career leaves you with less time and energy for family life and leisure activities.
