Pre-Health
The Pre-Health office provides you with opportunities to explore the health professional world.
We offer advising and resources, and guide students through the medical and health professional school application process. We can also connect you to dozens of clinical experiences, from observing physicians at Prisma Health to conducting research in a biomedical science laboratory. As part of Furman’s advising and mentoring team, the health careers advisors will prepare you for your future career, and ensure you are a competitive applicant when the time comes to apply to the health professional school of your choice.
Advising Team
At Furman, you will have a team of advisors to assist and support you. The health careers advisors work closely with your pathways advisor and academic major advisor to balance your coursework and experiential learning as you prepare for a career in the health professions.
Health Care Areas
The healthcare advisors work with all students preparing for a career in any area of healthcare, including but not limited to the healthcare fields listed below:
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Choosing Your Major
As a pre-health student at Furman, you can choose any major that matches your interests. There is no specific major required or preferred by health professional schools. Our graduates have gained admission to health professional schools through a variety of majors, including art, biology, chemistry, English, music, psychology, and Spanish.
Furman University has been highly successful in preparing its students for admission to medical school. In fact, over the past 5 years, Furman graduates who have completed required courses with a 3.5 GPA or higher have a better acceptance rate to medical school than their peers across the nation.
Graduates from the Class of 2025 who met that criteria had an acceptance rate of 81.8%. Since 2013, our students have been accepted to medical schools across the nation, including Baylor, Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, and Yale.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
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| Senior Applicants | 14 | 18 | 18 | 9 | 11 |
| Seniors Accepted | 9 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 9 |
| % Accepted | 64% | 94% | 83% | 100% | 82% |
| National % | 38% | 42% | 43% | 43% | 43% |
| FU % pts > National % | 26% | 52% | 40% | 57% | 39% |
Engaged Learning Information:
Linked Coursework Fall Semester 2025: Students in the Healthcare Today program are enrolled in one of the following healthcare focused First Year Writing seminar courses in the fall semester:
FYW 1195 “Psychic Disorder and the Social Order”
Course content explores how and why certain emotional states and patterns of thought become labeled pathological or disruptive, tracing key developments in mental healthcare from its inception in the eighteenth century through our contemporary mental health crisis.
FYW 1282 “This is Your Brain on Drugs”
This course will introduce students to the neurobiology and stigmatization of addiction. The basic neurobiology and the addictive properties of various drugs will be covered, including nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
Program Structure: Each semester, students will have the opportunity to engage with healthcare professionals in various fields. This engagement will primarily occur within an invited speaker format, but can also include activity and workshop settings. Each healthcare professional participating will highlight a characteristic, attribute, or skill associated with the core competencies, emphasizing how it is relevant to and practiced within their specific field of healthcare.
Eligibility and Application: Incoming students interested in any area of healthcare are eligible to apply for this selective program. For the 2026-2027 academic year, the program will be limited to 24 students.
Application Link: available in April 2026
Connecting with a Health Careers Advisor
To learn more about health careers advising at Furman, complete the interest form below.
- Students in their first and second years at Furman will meet with Mrs. Nevalainen.
- Third year, fourth year, master’s students, and alumni will meet with Dr. Banisaukas. This also includes students starting or currently in an application cycle for any health profession, and any students engaging in or interested in declaring the Medicine Health and Culture minor.
Lisa Nevalainen
