The journey to a medical career is a long one and while the end goal is important, it is also critical that you take the time to enjoy the process as well. As you begin, we recommend that you meet with our Health Careers Peer Advisors. They can provide the perspective of a Brown undergraduate with experience as a health careers student. Then be sure to investigate different health professions to determine which is the right fit for you. Each of you has your own strengths and passions and it is important to find a career that matches those. We also encourage you to explore the Open Curriculum to define your own interests and take advantage of all you can learn during your time at Brown.
Health Careers Advising
Getting Started
One of the most exciting aspects of starting college is the chance to try something different and have new experiences. We strongly encourage you to take the time to explore who you are and what you want to do. Brown has so much to offer, so be sure to challenge yourself to try something new, break out of your comfort zone, and take advantage of the opportunities available to you.
We also encourage you to explore all of the potential career paths in healthcare. Most students are aware of some of the more common healthcare careers (medicine, nursing, dentistry, etc.), but there are many healthcare fields and each has its own complement of careers.
Here at Health Careers Advising, we want to get to know you and help you on your chosen path.
- Be sure to attend our session during orientation and any of our other events throughout the year. These will help you design your plan for health professional school and allow you to take advantage of our resources.
- Another way to connect with us is to join our email list so that you receive the weekly newsletter, which is full of important information specifically for pre-health students, tips, events, and opportunities for students interested in a healthcare career.
- We also encourage you to meet with our Health Careers Peer Advisors, who are upperclassmen who have been in your shoes and are also pursuing a career in medicine. They can provide a great perspective of life at Brown, the pre-health path, and the college experience overall. More information about these students can be found on their website and their Instagram page.
One of the keys to success in college is finding a way to balance your time commitments. Allow enough time to study for classes, but also be sure to pursue your non-academic interests and make time to have some fun! Many new students at Brown quickly recognize that college-level study requires a greater commitment of time and effort than high school study. Use your first year to learn how to study and manage your time effectively. There are a number of tutoring options available as well as academic coaches who can give you a great boost, not only during your adaptation to college life, but also later on as you begin to manage a progressively more rich and more intensive course and co-curricular schedule.
If you are just starting at Brown, one of the more pressing questions can be about which courses you need to take during your first year. We recommend that you start the chemistry sequence of courses, but this can vary depending on your interests and academic goals. We also strongly encourage you to take advantage of the Open Curriculum to explore courses that are interesting to you and challenge you.
You can review the courses required for medical school, but remember that you have a few years to take these, so don’t feel pressured to take them all at the start.
If you are planning a career in a healthcare field other than medicine, select the profession of interest to you to view the listed prerequisites.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend that you do not take more than two science courses in your first semester at Brown. These courses can be quite rigorous and will be much more challenging than your high school classes. Choosing a maximum of two will allow you to delve deeply into the material and gain the most from your education. It will also allow you to explore courses in other disciplines that may be of interest to you.
If you are excited about gaining clinical experience and an opportunity arises, feel free to take advantage of that and get started. However, you should not feel any pressure to be working or volunteering in a clinical setting during your first semester. However, we would recommend looking for potential clinical experiences that you could pursue during a future semester.
The chemistry sequence at Brown is a bit nuanced. Please read over our prerequisites page for more information about the chemistry requirements for medical school. If you are planning a career in a healthcare field other than medicine, go to the page for that career as we have listed the prerequisites there for you.
You can also find specific information about the chemistry courses on the Chemistry Department website or on Courses@Brown.