Explore health careers and prepare through these courses offered by the Health Careers Center:

• AHS 1101: Orientation to Health Careers

  This one-credit (1 cr) course is designed for students interested in exploring the many career paths available in health care. This course will help students decide if a career in the health professions is a good fit for them.

  Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own values, skills and interests. They will also hear first-hand from an extensive line-up of guest speakers and learn more about the academic and experiential requirements for health professional schools at the University, and programs outside the University as well. Activities include interest inventories, discussions, journaling, developing an action plan, and other reflective assignments.

  Students will:

  • Assess their own interests, values, personality and abilities as relate to health careers.

  • Through guest speakers, class discussions and the media, gain an understanding of the competencies, professionalism and decision-making skills needed to succeed in health professions.

  • Learn about health-related academic majors and health professions through resource exploration, informational interviews, and presentations by guest health professionals.

  • Integrate the acquired knowledge to develop goals and an action plan to pursue their career choice.
   

  Look here for registration details.

• AHS 1102: Orientation to Health Careers (online)

  This web-based, one-credit course is for undergraduate students who are exploring health majors and professions. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own values, skills and interests as they learn about the academic and experiential requirements for the University of Minnesota health professional schools.

  Activities include interest inventories, discussions, journaling, developing an action plan, and other reflective assignments. This course will help students decide if a career in the health professions is a good fit for them.

  Students will:

  • Assess vocational interests, values and behavioral styles.
  • Explore issues related to professionalism and ethics in healthcare.
  • Learn about health-related academic majors and professions through resource exploration, informational interviews and presentations by health professional faculty.

  Note that credit will not be granted if credit has been received for AHS 1101.

  
  Look here for registration details.

• AHS 1104: Experiences in Health (hybrid)

  The course is designed for students interested in becoming a health professional.  As they complete 40 hours of volunteer experience in a setting that employs healthcare professionals, they will reflect on weekly health topics introduced through discussion and journaling activities. Students gain valuable volunteer experiencewhile earning course credit.

  Details:
  • For students interested in non-physician roles in healthcare
  • Offered in spring semester
  • 2 credits
  • Hybrid course (in-person dates with mainly online work). Students must be able to attend in-person dates.
  • Prerequisite: AHS 1101, AHS 1102, or AHS 1600
  • Students must arrange their own volunteering experience
  • Permission number required for registration

  Look here for registration details.

• AHS 1600: Future Physician I: Medicine in the 21st Century

  Learn about the multi-disciplinary field of medicine and the challenges shaping the work of health professionals in the healthcare field. Explore the history of medicine and health as well as grow in an understanding of global health issues and global healthcare systems. Explore the relationships and roles of physicians, their team members and the patient and learn about the commitment needed to become a physician.

  This course is taught collaboratively by Dr. Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; Investigator, Rural Health Research Center, University of Minnesota; Medical Director, Broadway Family Medicine, and Tricia Todd, MPH, Assistant Director of the Health Careers Center, University of Minnesota.

  Details:

  • 1 credit

  • Offered: Fall semester

  • Prerequisites: None

  • Registration : No Permission number required. Some seats reserved for incoming freshman, otherwise open enrollment.

  Look here for registration details.

• AHS 1601: The Future Physician II: The Life and Work of a Physician

  Explore the field of medicine by interacting with guest physician speakers from the University of Minnesota Medical School and the community. Learn to think critically about the challenges and opportunities of a career in medicine through interactive and reflective exercises. Learn about the essential and desired qualities of a medical student, and explore your own motivations and fit with a career in medicine.

  This course is taught collaboratively by Dr. Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; Investigator, Rural Health Research Center, University of Minnesota; Medical Director, Broadway  Family Medicine, and Tricia Todd, MPH, Assistant Director of the Health Careers Center, University of Minnesota.

  Details:

  • 1 credit
  • Offered: Spring semester, in-person
  • Prerequisites: AHS 1600 and instructor approval
  • To register: Registration for this course requires a permission number, which is available until the course is filled. Email your permission number request to Tricia Todd, MPH, course instructor, at todd0002@umn.edu or 612-624-6767.

  Look here for registration details.

• AHS 1602: The Future Physician III: Experiences in Medicine (online)

  An essential component of your application to medical school is experience in a health care setting. This course requires you to complete 35 hours of volunteer experience in a setting that employs physicians and serves patients. In addition, you will complete a medical school application plan and gain additional insight into your own fit with the field of medicine.

  Details:

  • 2 credits

  • Offered online: Fall, spring, summer semesters

  • Prerequisites: AHS 1601 and instructor approval

  • To register: Registration for this course requires a permission number, which are available until the course is filled. Requests to Tricia Todd, MPH, course instructor, at todd0002@umn.edu or 612-624-6767.

  
  Look here for registration details.

• Global Seminar: The Global Future Physician

  Students who take part in this seminar will gain a greater understanding of health care and public health in the context of a rapidly developing economy. Special emphasis will be paid to a comparative look at health care between India and the United States. In addition, students will travel to the rural, tribal communities south of Mysore to explore the regional development and health challenges specific to that region.
  
  Where will we be going?
  The global seminar will be held at the Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies (VIIS), in Mysore, India. VIIS is an educational institution of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), a leading NGO in the field of health and development in India.

  The seminar will be based out the VIIS campus in Mysore, India, and will include many field visits to tribal and rural areas of the Mysore district, Mysore Medical College, a government-run hospital and a private hospital. Additionally, the seminar will include visits to ancient temples, rural development projects, and water resource utilization projects to gain an understanding of health and medicine in context.

  Mysore is a mid-size city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is known for its beautiful palaces, temples and cultural activities.

  
  When are we going?
  January 2, 2013 - January 18, 2013
   

  Read more

• AHS 2300: Orientation to Clinical Research

  Professionalism, Ethics, Research Design, Regulation, Field Placement, Teamwork 
  
  “Clinical Research is research that either directly involves a particular person or group of people or uses materials from humans, such as their behavior or sample of their tissue, that can be linked to a particular living person.” (National Institutes of Health, 2012)

  Intended for pre-health students interested in clinical research and careers in health professions, this seminar introduces pre-health students to the field of clinical research, ethical conduct and professionalism, and clinical research methods pertinent to medicine, dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and nursing. In this course, students meet major principal investigators advancing key discoveries for various patient populations.

  In this course, you will:
  

  • Hear from guest speakers, including leading University of Minnesota faculty and clinical researchers
  • Complete a 12-hour field placement at a clinical research center (outside of class meetings)
  • Interact with health professionals, researchers, and research participants (opportunities to observe patients or research participants will vary across sites)
  • Write a clinical research proposal, under the supervision of a faculty mentor, which is ready to be submitted to UROP. 

  Field placement sites have included the: Cancer Center, Center for Clinical and Cognitive Neuropharmacology, Clinical Investigations Center, Cystic Fibrosis Center, Oral Health Clinical Research Center, and Medtronic.

  Prerequisites:

  • Status as a second-year undergraduate student in the Fall semester. (Students with extra credits due to PSEO or AP are eligible.)
  • Past experiences in a health setting – volunteer, internships, or paid work
  • An interest in learning about research
  • A career interest in a health profession such as dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, or public health
  • A cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or above

  Information Session (Required)

  • Attendance is required at an information session in the Spring. Students will complete a brief questionnaire at the session and must provide the name, phone number, and email address of one reference (i.e. an adviser, teacher, or supervisor).
  • Students will be notified about their status in late March and those who are selected for the course will receive a permission number.

  Instructors:
  Russell Luepker, MD, MS, Mayo Professor of Public Health, School of Public Health
  Mera Kachgal, PhD, LP, Career Consultant, Health Careers Center
   

  If you are unable to enroll in AHS 2300, we invite you to consider PubH 3315: Clinical Research from Lab to Bedside to Populations. PubH 3315 also provides an introduction to clinical research.
  

• AHS 2400: Writing a Personal Statement

  Do you need to write a personal statement or essay for your application to a health profession program? Are you having trouble figuring out how to get started, or how to tell your story in a concise and compelling way? Writing a personal statement can be challenging. Take this class and learn how to build your own story... and learn to express yourself the “write” way!

  Who should take this course? Pre-health students who will be applying to a health professional program within the next year.

  AHS 2400: Writing a Personal Statement
  
  Summer 2013, 1 credit, S/N only
  Meets Wednesdays, 10:10am - 12:05pm

  Permission Number for Summer 2013: Students should submit request at http://z.umn.edu/ahs2400summer13
  
  Fall 2013, 1 credit, S/N only
  Meets Fridays, 10:10 - 11:00am

  Permission Number for Fall 2013: Students should submit request at http://z.umn.edu/ahs2400fall13

• AHS 2707/2707H: Global Health Challenges for Future Health Professionals

  According to Thomas Friedman, best-selling author of The World Is Flat:

  "The future is uncertain, but we know one thing for sure: It will be different than today. Changes of all kinds will influence the world that health professionals work in."

  In his book, Friedman suggests we are now in a new era of a global world unlike anything we have ever known before. What does this new global world mean for the health of the world population and the planet? What type of health professionals will be needed in the future to assure a healthy future?

  Take this course and learn about the challenges you will face as a future health professional. Hear from health professionals involved in both cutting-edge research and innovative programs.

  Details for this course:

  • Fall semester: Honors course for freshmen and sophomores (must be enrolled Honors student)
  • Spring semester: Open to all
  • Permission number for registration is required
  • No prerequisites
  • 2 credits

Learn about a specific health profession through one of these orientation courses:

• CLSP 1010: Orientation in Clinical Laboratory Sciences
• FSCN 1002: Orientation to Nutrition
• Mort 2005: History of Funeral Service
• Nurs 1020: Challenges of Nursing
• OT 1003: Orientation to Occupational Therapy
• Phar 1001: Orientation to Pharmacy
• PT 1002: Orientation to Physical Therapy
• PubH 3202: What is Public Health?

Or take a related class in the health professions area, such as:

• BTHX 5100: Introduction to Clinical Ethics
• CSPH 1001: Principles of Holistic Health and Healing
• CSPH 1101: Self, Society and Environment
• GCD 3022: Genetics
• HINF 5501: US Health Care System - Information Challenges in Clinical Care
• HMed 3001-2: Health Care in History 1 and 2
• HMed 3040: Human Health, Disease and Environment in History
• LAMP 4177: Nature of Disease: Pathology for the Health Professions
• Phar 1002: Health Sciences Terminology
• Phar 1003: Nonprescription Meds and Self-Care: Treating Minor Conditions
• Phar 1004: Common Prescription Drugs and Diseases
• Phar 1005: Intro to Drug Therapies of Addiction: Medicine or Menace
• Phar 3101: A Pill for Every Problem or Problem Pills
• Phar 5201: Health Sciences Applied Terminology
• Phil 1005/1005H: Scientific Reasoning
• Phil 3302W: Moral Problems of Contemporary Society
• PubH 3001: Personal and Community Health
• PubH 3004: Basic Concepts in Personal and Community Health
• PubH 3350: People, Places and Disease: Intro to Epidemiology
• Span 1041: Beginning Medical Spanish
• Span 1044: Intermediate Medical Spanish
• Span 3044: Advanced Medical Spanish
• VPM 2850: Health and Biodiversity (VPM=Veterinary Population Medicine)

Or, try other career exploration courses:

• Biol 1020: Biology Colloquium
• Biol 2001: Career Planning for Biologists
• ID 1201: Major and Career Exploration
• IOFT 1312: Careers in Science and Engineering
• OUE 2100: Academic Planning and Exploration

Look here for registration information.