Health Professions Advisory Committee
Medically oriented professional schools recognize the desirability of a broad liberal education that includes a strong foundation in the natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics), well developed communication skills, and a background in the social sciences and humanities. The common curriculum of Trinity University's liberal arts and sciences program incorporates courses that provide all of these perspectives. There are also courses that directly address the practice of medicine from economic, ethical, and societal perspectives. Students plan, with the aid of their faculty advisor, their own unique education program to take advantage of these resources.
The curriculum at Trinity University supports the preparation of undergraduate students for a variety of health professions including medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant, and optometry. The needs of students with interests in physical therapy, podiatry, public health, health care administration, and nursing are also addressed. New pre-health profession students are assigned to a faculty advisor who is a member or adjunct of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. The committee is composed of 18 faculty members representing twelve academic departments. In addition to academic advising and preparation of letters of reference, committee members organize various activities and make students aware of off-campus opportunities to assist in their development towards graduate study and their career. There are liaisons to the committee from Study Abroad, Career Services, and Admissions who provide further resources.
Trinity University is a member of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, the Southeastern Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, and the Texas Association of Advisors for Health Professions. Membership in these organizations assists the faculty in remaining current on the rapidly changing fields of the many health professions.
Students are "self-declared" in the various pre-health profession programs at Trinity, so admission is automatic at the students' election. Students who opt in are considered a part of the pre-professional programs until they make a personal decision to modify their career goals. Periodically, students are advised as to their level of performance relevant to their career goals. Every effort is made to support Trinity students in obtaining entrance into the professional schools of their choice.
Few of the health professions' fields require a major in a specific discipline, pre-medical and pre-dental, so students are encouraged to major in an academic department of their choice and to work towards the type of degree best suited to their own goals. Most health profession programs require a mixture of undergraduate prerequisite courses in Biology, Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. Few students take the minimum required courses. Instead students are encouraged to develop some depth in the sciences to better adapt to rigorous graduate programs. Students are encouraged to discuss these issues with their faculty advisors.
Each year Trinity University awards financial assistance through the Alfred P. Ward, Jr. and Malouf Abraham, Jr. Scholarships to needy and worthy students aspiring to a career in medicine. In addition, Trinity University provides scholarships for academic excellence to first-year students. Other forms of aid are available through the Office of Financial Aid.
Visitors and Special Sponsored Events
Each year the Trinity Mu Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national premedical honor society, sponsors the visits of representatives of various health profession schools to the campus. Students are encouraged to join AED in order to be informed about the various opportunities available. Other activities for pre-health profession students include a mock interview program, MCAT debriefing sessions, health profession shadowing opportunities, and tours of extensive San Antonio biomedical facilities. A wide-ranging electronic information system is also available to pre-health profession students.
Special Facilities and Graduate Opportunities
Many Trinity undergraduate students take advantage of research opportunities both on and off campus. Campus research projects may include the use sophisticated equipment and methodologies. The Keck Center for Macromolecular Studies supports instruments for research at the interface between biology and chemistry. Across the sciences as a whole, instruments available to students include electrophoresis and chromatography apparatus, X-ray diffractometers, ultracentrifuges, NMR spectrometers, mass and atomic absorption spectrometers, scintillation counters, fluorescence microscopes, real-time and conventional PCR thermocyclers, an automated DNA sequencer, digital image analysis, and molecular modeling and virtual reality computation. All equipment in the science departments is available for student use, and a full-time faculty member carefully supervises each project. Undergraduates have published their results in national scientific journals and presented papers before learned scientific organizations.
The quality of an educational institution may be judged, in part, by the acceptance of its pre-medical applicants. For the past ten years we have placed 62% of our unscreened applicants into medical schools; and, 90% of all senior applicants with at least a 3.5 Trinity GPA have been accepted into medical school. The national average for the same period is about 42% of all applicants. Most Trinity pre-medical students choose to attend a medical school in their home state.
Dr. James R. Shinkle, Chair, Health Professions Advisory Committee
Department of Biology
(210) 999-7231
jshinkle@trinity.edu