Planning a Pre-Health and Pre-Medicine Profession
If there’s one industry that you’ve likely heard about when it comes to job shortages, it’s the health care industry. Not only is it an industry dedicated to improving other peoples’ health and wellbeing, it includes numerous professions that pay well, come with solid job security, and—given the large number of job openings—allow practitioners mobility when choosing where to live and what exactly they want to do.
According to a 2023 study by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care employment accounts for 9.3 percent of total employment in the country1, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Over the next decade, with the aging and retirement of the Baby Boomer generation, overall employment in health care occupations is projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations from 2023 to 2033.
“About 1.9 million openings are projected each year, on average, in these occupations due to employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave the occupations permanently,” the BLS states2.
The challenge largely lies in picking which occupation you want to pursue.
The Skill Set
Since there are numerous occupations across the health care industry, it’s difficult to narrowly define which skills are most important for students. However, there are some broader skills that most health care occupations will benefit from, including:
Communication skills: Given how important it is to clearly define information relating to personal health, those in the health care industry need to convey such information effectively. Health care professionals also often must be able to dictate or write reports that clearly describe a patient’s medical condition or procedure outcome.
- Compassion: Patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress. Health care workers need to be able to treat patients and their families with understanding.
- Detail-oriented/organizational skills: To ensure that patients receive the appropriate treatment, including the right medication, physicians and surgeons must be precise in monitoring, care, and recordkeeping.
- Patience: Health care professionals often must remain calm and tolerant when working with patients who need special attention.
- Stamina: Health care professionals, depending upon their chosen path, may often spend time on their feet, work long hours, be on call, and work evenings.
- Problem-solving skills: Health care professionals need to evaluate patients’ symptoms to determine appropriate treatment. In some situations, such as emergencies, they may need to analyze and resolve crises quickly.
Pinpointing a Career
When it comes to compensation, not all health care occupations are the same. Those in technical occupations earned salaries averaging $80,820 in May 2023, which is much higher than the median annual wage for all occupations of $48,060. Non-technical support occupations, on the other hand, had a median annual wage of $36,140.
But the range of “technical occupations,” according to the BLS, is quite broad: nurses, doctors, dental hygienists, pharmacists, digital health informatic specialists, nuclear medicine technologists—the list goes on. Some of the occupations, and their requisite 2023 median annual earnings, include:
- Physicians and Surgeons: $239,200 or greater, depending upon specialty, if any
- Physical Therapist: $99,700
- Pharmacist: $136,030
- Nuclear Medicine Technologist: $92,500
- Registered Nurse: $86,000
- Occupational Therapist: $96,370
- Cardiovascular Technologist: $80,850
- Dentist: $170,900
- Dental Hygienist: $87,500
In short, there are a whole lot of technologists needed in health care—and most of them require a higher degree.
And where better to prepare for a technical occupation in the health care industry than at Chicago’s leading tech university?
Pre-Health and Pre-Medical Pathways at Illinois Tech
Overall, the acceptance rate of university graduates at medical schools in the U.S. in 2022–23 was 43 percent3. Competition is fierce.
But graduates of Illinois Tech are a step ahead of the game. The medical school acceptance rate for Illinois Tech students averaged 80 percent over the past two years (2021–23).
There are several reasons for such a significantly higher acceptance rate. Illinois Tech specializes in the STEM-focused majors that are proven gateways to success in all medical fields. These include dozens of engineering and science programs, including biomedical engineering, chemistry, biology, psychology, and more.
Additionally, Illinois Tech is a small, private research university, allowing students one-on-one guidance from a committed team of faculty members who are on the university’s Pre-Medical Advisory Committee. At Illinois Tech, pre-med and pre-health preparation does not need to be a specific “pre-med” degree program, but rather an academic pathway. That means students will meet with a pre-med/pre-health adviser for a personal consultation and then ultimately choose a major in a degree program that best suits their own academic and career path. They receive additional personalized advising on the essential courses and out-of-classroom opportunities that best prepare them for success in medical school.
Still, Illinois Tech does offer several important degree programs specific to the health care fields, including:
- Minor in Pre-Medical Studies, which is for students who plan to apply to medical school and who have been approved by the Pre-Medical Advisory Committee. The minor includes courses that satisfy the prerequisite coursework for most medical schools and that cover the majority of topics on the MCAT and other entrance examinations. It also includes courses designed to increase the competitiveness of a student’s application.
- Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program, which is offered for college graduates who would like to change their careers and pursue a medical education but lack the prerequisite coursework for their chosen health professional school.
- Master of Science in Biology for the Health Professions, which is for students who need to boost their academic credentials and become competitive applicants to health professional schools.
- Dual-admission programs, where students are guaranteed admission to osteopathic medical, dentistry, or pharmacy school. In some cases, these programs are accelerated compared to traditional pathways. Partner institutions include:
· Illinois Tech/Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (B.S./D.O.), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
· Illinois Tech/Illinois College of Optometry (B.S./O.D.), Doctor of Optometry
· Illinois Tech/Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy (B.S./Pharm.D.), Doctor of Pharmacy
· Illinois Tech/Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (B.S./D.O., B.S./Pharm.D., or B.S. D.M.S.)—Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Pharmacy, or Doctor of Dental Medicine.
Finally, Illinois Tech’s alumni network cannot be discounted—it includes thousands of alumni from across the Chicago area, in area hospitals, and beyond. Illinois Tech’s recent graduates were accepted to medical and health professional schools including the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rush University, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, A. T. Still University, Uniformed Services University, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Virginia Tech, Medical College of Wisconsin, Rocky Vista University, the University of Maryland, the University of Hawaii, Illinois College of Optometry, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, and more.
If you would like to take the advantage of one of Illinois Tech’s many pathways to a medical or health profession, you can request information.
1 https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2023/healthcare-occupations-in-2022/