POSSIBLE ELECTIVESWhile a good, solid performance in the sciences is important, it is by no means the only factor in your application. You should concentrate on building the overall strength and breadth of your academic record. The best professional schools in the country want students who can think clearly, read critically, and write well. You should also bear in mind that most admissions directors at the health professions schools see between five thousand and ten thousand applications each year, and have been at their job for many years; they are fully aware of the games applicants play in order to "pad" their application. You should not seek courses in which you think you will earn an "easy grade." You should choose a major you will enjoy and truly strive to develop yourself intellectually, irrespective of the difficulty of the courses you may be taking. Only in this way do you really increase your chances of success.NYU offers some courses in the social sciences and humanities, such as "Medical Sociology" and "Medical Ethics," that are directly relevant to your future career; a minor in Public Policy, with a health track, is also available. We encourage you to explore other courses which may relate your particular interests to health-related subjects. You should also enhance your education by pursuing the honors track in your major, in which you conduct a research project under faculty supervision and take smaller upper-level or seminar-type courses in which members of the faculty may be sufficiently impressed by you to write a letter in support of your application. (Quite often, students who are not on a formal honors track can still register for independent study and small upper-level courses in their major, and they should take advantage of the opportunity.) In summary, a well-rounded education and intellectual flexibility are what medical and other health professional schools want to see in their applicants; always keep in mind that you can develop crucial skills and learn much about people and the world from the electives you choose, even if they are not directly related to your choice of a career in healthcare! After all, a true liberal arts education strives to go beyond the merely utilitarian. We strongly advise our science majors to take some courses in the liberal arts (these emphasize the "three R's" of reading, writing, and research). We also urge our non-science majors to take one or two science courses beyond the required prehealth courses. A semester of biochemistry is an excellent idea, as it is strongly recommended by many health professional schools; we can also suggest Vertebrate Anatomy in the Biology Department. Below, we list some courses outside of the science departments that prehealth students may want to consider. This list is not comprehensive nor is it prescriptive. In addition, courses offered from semester to semester vary. Students are encouraged to explore course offerings and to take courses that fit their interests/studies.. ANTHROPOLOGYAny course in the Biological Anthropology track, with the exception of "Current Topics in Physical Anthropology" which is only open to majors. All courses have the same prerequisite: V14.0002, Human Evolution (or permission of the instructor, which may be granted to students who have completed Principles of Biology I and II). However, please note that these courses will not be included in your AMCAS combined math/science GPA.In addition, we can suggest the culturally-oriented course V14.0035, Medical Anthropology (prerequisite: V14.0001, Human Society and Culture, or permission of the instructor).
COMMUNICATION STUDIES (INCLUDING COURSES IN "SPEECH")Courses in communication studies, offered by The Steinhardt School of Education, can be useful to students preparing for the health professions. Effective and productive communication with supervisors, colleagues, and patients will be a very important part of your future success.Some examples:
See http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/undergraduate/courses for more information. CORE COURSES IN PSYCHOLOGY AS A NATURAL SCIENCENote: Introduction to Psychology is a prerequisite to all of the following courses:
CORE COURSES IN PSYCHOLOGY AS A SOCIAL SCIENCENote: Introduction to Psychology is a prerequisite to all of the following courses. These classes will give the future healthcare practitioner insight into how their patients think and relate to other people.
PUBLIC POLICY MINORCAS offers an interdisciplinary, interschool minor in Public Policy with a health concentration ("track"). Students take courses at Wagner School of Public Service, the Steinhardt School of Education, and CAS. Students may take courses of interest without completing the minor. Many of these courses have prerequisites; please consult the CAS Bulletin for more information.
SOCIOLOGYCourses in this department can give the future healthcare practitioner a broad understanding of the social issues and problems that will affect at least some of his or her patients. These courses (like many classes in the Sociology Department) have no prerequisites.
ENGLISHPre-health students need to complete one full year of Expository Writing Program and/or English Department courses. This is a requirement that is set by the health professional schools themselves.Students in the College of Arts and Science are all required to take Writing the Essay, V40.0100, in order to graduate (unless they are transfer students and can be exempted from this requirement). That course puts you halfway towards the "year of Writing or English" expected by medical and other professional schools. In order to complete this two-semester expectation, you will need to take a course in the English Department or a second writing course. Please do not take a course on literature in translation outside the English Department, or any course offering in Comparative Literature, Dramatic Literature, etc., in the hope that it will be accepted by health professional schools as your second English/writing course. Unless such courses are explicitly cross-listed and you register for them under an English course number (V41), they may not be accepted by the medical or other health professional schools to which you will apply. These schools want students to study English or American Literature and Expository Writing, and you need to take the courses they prefer. Some of our pre-health students over the years have taken the French Department literature in translation course entitled "La Belle Epoque." However, several medical schools have recently begun questioned and challenged the use of this course as a "second English class." We now advise students against taking it for this purpose. If you choose to take it, it is YOUR responsibility to provide your syllabus and a course description to any health professional school that may challenge it. There is only one exception to this firm rule: if you take the MAP course Expressive Culture: Words with a professor from the English Department, then this course will count as your "second English/Writing" class for health professional school. Students in the HEOP or C-Step Program, in the General Studies Program, or who are matriculated in Steinhardt or Stern, are required to take one full year of Expository Writing. These two classes easily satisfy the health professional school requirement for one year of Writing or English. Courses appropriate for Non-English Majors will vary from semester to semester. Students are encouraged to visit the English department for a list of courses open to or appropriate for non-majors during registration period. The prerequisite to all courses in the English department is completion of the expository writing requirement.
EXPOSITORY WRITINGStudents who excel in--and truly enjoy--Writing the Essay can ask the Expository Writing office for permission to take V40.0015, A Spectrum of Essays.According to the course description, this class "emphasizes the development of analytical, reflective, and imaginative skills that lead to accomplished essays in any academic discipline." This course will be accepted by medical and other health professional schools as your "second English or Writing" course.
HISTORYAlthough the College of Arts Science officially classifies History as a social science discipline (for purposes of MAP exemption, for example), many History courses will feature a more humanities-style approach.One such course is V57.0135, Pre-Modern Science. This class looks at how the west has examined and theorized about the natural world, from the Pre-Socratics to the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From time to time the History Department may offer other upper-level courses on the history of science and on all the many developments that paved the way for today's weighty textbooks and lab manuals.
PHILOSOPHYMany pre-health students have never considered taking a course in this department, unless it is the always-popular Medical Ethics, whose very title makes it sound "relevant." For the most part, students, their parents, or both consider philosophy (and many non-science fields in general) to be both "soft" and irrelevant.Think again. The emphasis that philosophy and other humanities courses place upon clear and critical thinking and writing makes for an intellectually challenging experience that can literally change the way you read, write, think, and argue. As for subject matter, any course in ethics--not just the medical one--will help you to think about right, wrong, and shades of gray in relation to your future profession. Overall, we truly believe (and most medical and other health professional schools would agree with us) that a course on ethics should be a crucial part of your undergraduate education. In addition, before you embark upon a career that can literally place the power of life and death in your hands, consider taking a look at the Philosophy course bearing that very title: Life and Death. Finally, students who are majoring (or are simply deeply interested) in one of the natural sciences or mathematics may want to study the philosophical foundations of these branches of knowledge. Some selective suggestions are:
RELIGIOUS STUDIESAnother department often overlooked by students. It offers The Meaning of Death, V90.0704.Don't let the title scare you off. This course is interested in how death is approached and handled in different religious and cultural tradtions, while also examining "the care of those who are dying" and "ethical-religious issues." Future physicians need to think about how they will deal with the reality of death--and how they will comfort the survivors. |