Missouri State offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The BSN program is an undergraduate
program which allows students to obtain their bachelor's degree and become a Registered
Nurse at the undergraduate level.
A master's degree is required to become credentialed as a a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
(RDN). Missouri State offers a Master's Degree in Dietetics. Admission to the graduate
Dietetics program requires an undergraduate degree that is approved by the Accreditation
Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). For this reason, students
interested in becoming an RDN are advised to pursue Missouri State's undergraduate
program in Nutrition and Dietetics to meet these criteria.
Registered radiologic technologists can become certified through clinical associate
programs. At Missouri State, Radiography is part of a cooperative agreement with Cox
College and Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences of Southwest Baptist University
and other JRCERT accredited programs. This program allows students to receive a bachelor's
degree by taking their prerequisite coursework at Missouri State and then seeking
admission into a JRCERT school of radiologic technology. Clinical radiology credits
are then applied as elective credits towards a Bachelor of Science in Radiography.
Eligibility to become a Respiratory Therapist can be achieved through a CoACR accredited
RT program such as an Associate of Applied Science Degree. Respiratory Therapy at
Missouri State allows students to apply transfer credits from a Respiratory Therapy
registry program towards a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy.
Missouri State has agreements with Mercy (Joplin), Cox Medical Center (Springfield),
and North Kansas City Hospital (Kansas City) which allow students to complete their
prerequisite coursework at Missouri State before transferring to clinical rotation
for hands-on training. Clinical credits are transferred to apply towards the Bachelor
of Science in Clinical Laboratory Sciences- Medical Technology degree which gives
students the opportunity to become a Certified Laboratory Scientist (CLS).
The Bachelor of Science in Health Services is designed to provide a foundation for
those who plan to enter the workforce as a non-clinical healthcare professional or
who wish to progress into non-clinical graduate programs such as Health Administration
or Public Health.
Missouri State has numerous majors, minors, certificates and degrees that can support
pre-health interests. Programs and course requirements can be found in the Undergraduate
Catalog.
The Pathways to Health Professions handbook is designed to provide information on professional fields which both require
graduate training to practice and have graduate programs for which numerous undergraduate
degrees will meet admission requirements. Some programs such as Nursing are completed
at the undergraduate level while others such as Dietetics require a specific undergraduate
degree to pursue graduate training. Other programs are partnerships that compliment
two-year or clinical programs.
There are a variety of strategies for learning more about medical professions. The Pathways to Healthcare Professions handbook is designed to help students explore different professional interests within
healthcare. Working with an academic advisor can help you apply this information to
your interests and desired academic paths. If you are unsure of a major, advisors
at the Academic Advising and Transfer Center can assist with prehealth advising to
explore options.
Career Resource Specialists at the Career Center are also an excellent resource to
learn more about the different fields and can guide research on internships and job
shadowing experiences.
"Pre-med" refers to one's professional intentions, not a specific major of study.
Students often choose to major in one of the sciences, such as Biology, Biomedical
Sciences, Chemistry, etc. but this is not required. Students must, however, meet the
medical school's admission requirements, including prerequisite coursework. Premedical
students may choose to major in any field, and should choose a major based upon an
interest in that field of study and consider this field to be an alternative career
path.
Professional Associations, including the Association of American Medical Schools,
do not recommend any particular major for professional school preparation. Prehealth
students can major in any discipline, as long as they complete the appropriate prerequisite
courses. The important thing to consider when contemplating majors is that you choose
something you enjoy. Chances are, if you enjoy the subjects you are studying, you
will do better than if you choose something just because you think it will get you
into a professional school. Because acceptance to professional schools is extremely
competitive, you may need a back-up plan to use temporarily or for a longer period
of time. You should consider this and plan accordingly. If you never need a back-up
plan - excellent. If you do, you will be glad you have one. Need help choosing an
alternative career? Career Resources Specialists at the Career Center can help.
Your undergraduate grade point average (GPA) as well as your science GPA - composed
of your Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics composite GPA. The next important
factor to admission is your admissions test (MCAT, DAT, OAT, or GRE) score. These
are important parts of your application. Professional schools also look very favorably
on health care experience in your field. If you are interested in medicine, optometry,
or dentistry, you should try to get health care experience in a variety of settings
and with a diverse group of practitioners. If you are interested in veterinary medicine,
you should get experience in both small and large animal care. Other factors include
part-time work, extra curricular activities, maturity, well-rounded education, letters
of recommendation, personal statements, and interview performance. Because professional
schools look at all of these factors when considering admission, it is important to
make them all as strong as possible. Grades and test scores are most important because
professional schools want to make sure that you are ready for the work.
Although extracurricular activities are not viewed as an alternative to your GPA or
admissions test score, professional schools do look for "well-rounded" applicants
and one way to demonstrate this is to get involved in campus and community activities.
Choose organizations that interest you because those are the ones that will make your
collegiate experience more meaningful. However, you need to keep in mind that your
GPA is more important than campus involvement, so never sacrifice your grades by becoming
over committed with extracurricular activities.
