About the Program

The Pre-Professional Program is a highly intensive and focused one-year full-time post-baccalaureate graduate certificate program designed for applicants who have completed undergraduate degrees  and are interested in pursuing a career in medicine.

Applicants may be:

• Career-changers: those who are science undergraduates who have completed the required coursework for medical school and wish to transition to medical school
• Career-enhancers: those with a pre-med background who require grade and/or Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score enhancement to bolster their competitiveness for admission to these schools.

Features of the program include:

• Preparation for Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
• Curriculum similar to the pre-clinical years of medical school
• Faculty involved in training students in the medical, dental and health profession schools
• Personalized academic advising that includes workshops on applying to medical schools
• Small class sizes studying as a single cohort
• Opportunities to develop professionalism skills

The program allows qualified individuals to start this gap year program immediately after spring term graduation and, upon completion, become ready for applying to medical or osteopathic schools as desired the following year.

Near completion of the program, a student who has applied to medical schools in the TMDSAS system and who has shown strength in the three areas of holistic review (metric, experiences and personal attributes) will be invited for an interview at the Long School of Medicine.  Strength in these areas is broadly defined:  metrics that predict academic success in a medical school curriculum, a range of valuable experiences in which the student learns about medicine and serves others, and the attainment of personal attributes which characterize the best physician

UT Health San Antonio, with its missions of teaching, research and healing, is located in the center of the South Texas Medical Center at San Antonio, the seventh-largest city in the United States. It is one of the country’s leading health sciences universities and is surrounded by a dozen major hospitals, and several clinics. As an academic institution, it is home to medical, dental, graduate, health professions and nursing schools that have collectively 35,800 alumni to date. Ample opportunities exist for volunteering in clinical and research settings as well as within the local community.

Check out our Brochure and our Program FAQ for most commonly asked questions.