Ask Dr. Dale - The PreHealth Guy

Volunteer Work- What Counts? Dear Dr. Dale, What sort of volunteer work/ internships count toward graduate school requirement hours? Virtually all medical and allied health fields have a health experience or shadowing requirement. What is actually required varies remarkably from field to field. Physician assistant programs have one of the largest requirements for health care experience. Some programs require up 2000 hours of hands on health care experience. Sometimes this is gained by working In the field as an emergency medical technician or medical assistant. Many fields like occupational and physical therapy require shadowing of professionals in the chosen field. The hours required vary, but many programs have a minimum number of hours, often less than one hundred.                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Dear Dr. Robinson, I attend a private college near Chicago and my home is in Oregon. I am interested in becoming a physical therapist. I love biology but math is not my favorite subject. My pre-health advisor is unclear if taking calculus is in my best interest? What should I do? C.A., Oregon Proper course selection is key to getting admitted to your desired graduate health program. While premeds will take calculus many allied health fields do not require it. If you do not like math you should only take it if it is certain you need it. In the allied health fields, there is some school to school variation in requirements. To better answer your question I considered some places that you might want to apply to. In your home state of Oregon there is no state physical therapy program but there are 2 private schools. Some prominent schools in the Midwest include Washington University, Northwestern University, and Creighton University. Only one of these programs requires calculus,

Triplets in utero ultrasound Dear Dr. Robinson, I am studying biology and am considering pre-dental studies. However the length and the cost of this course of study is significant. My friend is pursuing an associates degree in ultrasound technology and says in two years they can earn a good salary. Wha do you think of this approach? S.F. Texas Both dentistry and ultrasound technician are great but very different career options. There are several educational routes to become a ultrasound technician. The shortest route for someone without another health related degree is an Associate of Applied Science in ultrasound technology. This would take about two years. Other educational routes to this career objective would be a bachelors degree or a one - two year certificate program if you already have a health related degree. Ultrasound technicians produce the images that are read by radiologists and it can be challenging interesting work. The job requires both technical skills