Natural Science Division
Pre-Health Professions
Pepperdine University offers outstanding pre-health professional curricula for those students who plan to apply for admission to professional programs such as medicine, dentistry, physician assistant, physical therapy, veterinary medicine, occupational therapy, podiatry and nursing. Many of these areas such as medicine and dentistry have a common set of requirements for admission whereas physical therapy and physician assistant, for instance, do not. We have a listing of the required courses for medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine on this Website (see links on the right). In order to determine the courses needed for other professional schools such as physician assistant, you will need to choose some schools you are interested in and then refer to each school's required list of courses.
The pre-health curricula are not degree programs but simply a list of courses that must be taken. Students can choose any major on campus and take their pre-health required courses at the same time. Although many students choose to major in biology, chemistry and sports medicine there are successful applicants to professional school from all majors.
As 95% of our pre-health students at Pepperdine are pre-med most of the information on this Website refers to them. Use the links on the right for additional information about pre-medicine, pre-dentistry and pre-veterinary required classes and frequently asked questions. Use the health professions link button on the right for information about other health professions. There is also a link to our current list of pre-med volunteer opportunities in the area.
Pepperdine University provides a wide range of services to current and former (alumni) health professions students. The Pre-Health Professions Advisor is available for advising and writes committee letters of recommendation for medical school applicants. Letters of recommendation are collected and sent via the Natural Science Office. There are pre-health clubs to join, frequent pre-health speakers, international programs with health professions opportunities and numerous service learning opportunities available through the Volunteer Center on campus. You have a unique opportunity to pursue research as an undergraduate with our professors at Pepperdine including presentation and publication of your work. Our Seaver College professors and our staff in the Natural Science office and Career Center provide helpful programs and advice to enable students to find their passion and pursue it.
Use the contact information listed on this Website if you have any further questions about our program.
