Preparing for professional training

Lewis & Clark successfully prepares students for admission to professional schools of their choice in medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, physical therapy, nursing, and other related health fields. The success rate of our graduates applying to these schools is nationally competitive. Health care professional schools want students with a strong background in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Lewis & Clark’s strong science programs are just the ticket to meet that need.

Professional schools also want evidence of breadth of knowledge, intellectual curiosity, adaptability to a variety of environments, and mastery of some subject in depth. Your field of specialization is much less important than your ability to accomplish mastery; dedication and genuine interest are keys to success in the intense professional training that follows the bachelor’s degree. Where better to develop these skills than a liberal arts and sciences college, where you will encounter a variety of disciplinary perspectives through general education courses, as well as study one subject in depth through the major? The foundations laid through a liberal arts degree are, in fact, just what the doctor ordered!

Preparing for life

Still questioning whether a liberal arts education is for you? Consider this: Liberal arts colleges are in the business of educating people, not training them. Some of the most important things we teach are the intangibles—not a collection of facts or skills, but habits of mind such as how to think critically about complex issues and how to identify, define, and solve problems. A liberal arts education prepares you not so much for a specific career as for the ability to make your way in a complex and constantly changing world.

Medicine reflects today’s multidimensional and rapidly changing world. As a health professional, you will need to continually upgrade your knowledge. You will constantly evaluate the risks and benefits of new therapies for your patients, and will routinely encounter problems that require careful and logical analysis to diagnose accurately. The intellectual skills you need are the essence of a liberal arts and sciences education. The specific techniques for your chosen profession are what you acquire in your graduate-level training.

We emphasize flexibility in our curriculum, encourage you to explore a variety of disciplines with different intellectual and artistic underpinnings, and promote a well-rounded approach to life in our curricular and cocurricular offerings. Many Lewis & Clark students have acted on their interest in health issues by helping the homeless, volunteering in a large urban school district or with migrant workers in small rural communities, working in wards at the state mental hospital, or doing research in laboratories at Oregon Health Sciences University. Many such opportunities are available in a metropolitan area of 1.5 million.

Doing scientific research as an undergraduate

At Lewis & Clark, you will be encouraged to experience science firsthand through original research, regardless of your professional goal.

This develops your skills in identifying and solving problems and is excellent preparation both for medical practice and clinical research.

Recent Lewis & Clark graduates have entered combined M.D.-Ph.D. programs, allowing them to merge their love of reserach with their desire to practice medicine.

Research opportunities exist in each department beyond the traditional classroom. Projects in the biology, chemistry, and physics departments are at the cutting edge of scientific research, and several of them have potential applications in the health sciences. Faculty and students in each of these departments have coauthored papers that have been published in leading national and international journals such as Journal of Materials Research, Molecular and Cell Biology, American Journal of Botany, Physical Review Letters, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Biochemistry, Journal of Cell Biology, and Science.

In the mathematical sciences department, several majors have distinguished themselves in national mathematics competitions. In the last four years, the Lewis & Clark team has earned three meritorius designations and one honorable mention at the annual Mathematical Contest in Modeling, sponsored by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP).

Studying overseas

Lewis & Clark has truly distinctive overseas study programs and students from all majors are encouraged to take advantage of those opportunities. Since these innovative programs began in 1962, 65 percent of them have been in developing and non-Western nations. Students interested in health care have been able to study related issues all around the world.

For example, 8 of the 23 group participants on a recent program in Kenya majored in fields in the Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences. Before departing for Africa, the group raised funds to purchase medical supplies that were much needed in one of their host communities. In Kenya, while living with families in the rural coastal town of Kipungani, they constructed a community medical dispensary.

Many faculty in the Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences have led overseas study programs—a strong indication of their support of this experience.

If you plan on graduate school in the health professions and want to go abroad during your undergraduate years, you must plan your curriculum very carefully. A close working relationship with your adviser is essential to incorporating an overseas study experience into your four-year program.

Choosing your courses

Many of our students seeking a health care career major in biology, biochemistry, or chemistry, although no particular major is required for admission to health care professional schools. Lewis & Clark graduates with majors in art, history, international affairs, physics, and psychology have pursued professional training in health care fields. We encourage you to major in the area that has the most appeal to you.

We have found that most medical schools, and other health career programs, require or recommend the following courses:

Biology
   151   Investigations in Genetics and Evolutionary Biology
   200   Investigations in Cell and Molecular Biology

Chemistry
   110   General Chemistry I*
   120   General Chemistry II
   210   Organic Chemistry I
   220   Organic Chemistry II

English Composition
   Two writing-intensive courses, which can be satisfied by
   Inventing America, a required course for all first-year students.

Mathematical Sciences
   131   Calculus I**
   132   Calculus II**

Physics
   141   Introductory General Physics I or
   151   Physics I: Motion
   142   Introductory General Physics II or
   152   Physics II: Waves and Matter

Psychology
   100   Introduction to Psychology

Students are strongly encouraged to take additional courses from the following list:

Biology
   311, 312 Molecular Biology and lab
   361   Cell Biology
   375   Comparative Physiology
   412   Developmental Biology

Chemistry
   330   Structural Biochemistry
   335, 336 Metabolic Biochemistry and lab

Philosophy
   103   Ethics

Psychology
   111   Statistics I

The courses listed above are described in the Lewis & Clark College catalog, which is available from the Office of Admissions.

* Students with strong preparation in high school chemistry may substitute Chemistry 115 and 135 (Accelerated General Chemistry and lab).

** Not all medical schools require calculus. However, we recommend that students complete these courses to keep all options open.

Examples of graduate studies

• University of Washington (M.D.).
• Oregon Health and Science University (M.D., D.D.S., R.N.).
• Medical College of Pennsylvania (M.D.).
• Vanderbilt Medical School (M.D.).
• University of Vermont (M.D.) .
• Harvard Medical School (M.D.).
• University of Southern California .(M.D.)
• University of Iowa (M.D.).
• Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.).
• Oregon State University (D.V.M.).

Examples of positions in health care professions obtained by graduates

• Chair of the Department of Neurology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Evanston, Illinois.
• Director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland.
• Family practitioner and 1986 Doctor of the Year, Philomath, Oregon.
• Surgeon, Kaiser Permanente, Portland.
• Veterinarian, Ontario, Oregon.
• Obstetrician-gynecologist, Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Pediatric physical therapist, Reno, Nevada.
• Dentist, Kaiser Permanente, Salem, Oregon.
• Associate professor of pharmacology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, Nevada.
• Anesthesiologist, Elk Grove, California.
• Optometrist, Fresno, California.

If you have not already done so, we encourage you to visit the campus. The Office of Admissions can arrange class visits, conferences with faculty, and other activities.

Several Lewis & Clark faculty members serve as advisers for students pursuing health care pre-professional studies. Our goal is to help you accomplish a broad liberal arts education and complete the specific courses required for admission to the graduate school of your choice. Your “pre-med” adviser is well informed about trends in admission to health-profession schools and can help you assess your chances of getting admitted based on your academic performance.

If you have any questions about our curriculum, please contact one of the following pre–health profession advisers:

Bethe Scalettar, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
bethe@lclark.edu

William Randall, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry
randall@lclark.edu