Welcome to PreMed at XU

 

The Premedical Office at Xavier University of Louisiana provides systematic and comprehensive application advice/support (starting freshman year and continuing consistently throughout enrollment) to Xavier premedical students (regardless of major) who are interested in applying to professional degree programs in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, podiatry, and related health fields. To gain perspective on an array of health careers, students are encouraged to visit http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/home. FYI, students who are interested in pharmacy at Xavier are advised by the Pre-Pharmacy Office, not the Premedical Office.

Xavier students (and alumni) who plan on applying to medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools and who wish to receive structured and detailed advising from the Premedical Office should have working email addresses on file in the Premedical Office. Currently enrolled students should sign-in by visiting the Premedical Office; Xavier alumni may sign-up to receive advising emails from the Premedical Office by sending a request to xupremed@yahoo.com. In addition to attending regularly scheduled group and individual premed meetings, it is imperative that advisees carefully read all Premedical Office emails and retain them as needed for future reference. FYI, email messages are sent out almost DAILY during the academic year and peak professional school application periods during the summer.

The Premedical Office, located in NCF Science Building room 108, complements the support provided by academic advisors within major academic departments. It is staffed by a combination of premedical advisors and premed students. The office is generally open from 9am-5pm during the academic year.

Types of Support Provided by XU's Premedical Office

Due to the large number of students interested in medical, dental, etc. school at Xavier and the complexity of the process of preparing for entry into and applying to such schools, activities conducted by XU's Premedical Office are generally highly structured, and to the extent possible, conducted in a group format at a specified time (or times). In addition, at almost all such activities, students complete worksheets and/or receive handouts with pertinent information. The following are some of the types of support currently provided by XU's Premedical Office:

• Group and individual meetings with a Premedical Adviser designed to keep students informed (and on task) with cultivating competitive medical, dental, etc. school applications.
• Weekly (sometimes daily) emails regarding premed advising activities, summer programs, volunteer opportunities, recruitment visits, scholarships, etc. NOTE: Premed Office emails are sent only to students who maintain updated email addresses in the PM Office. 
• Guidance in choosing courses to maximize competitiveness for acceptance into health professions schools and success once enrolled.
• Guidance in assessing progress towards fulfilling the requirements for entry into health professions schools.
• Guidance in exploring academic year and summer activities that offer relevant experience in the health professions.
• Assistance with collecting letters of evaluation to support applications to summer programs and health professions schools.
• Assistance with preparing for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), and other entrance exams.
• Step-by-step assistance, by way of a strategic application timeline,with completing the application process for health professions schools (beginning freshman year at Xavier).
• Visits to XU by health professionals and representatives from medical, dental, and other health professions schools.

Types of Support NOT provided by XU's Premedical Office: XU's Premedical Office does not...

• have scholarship funds. All scholarships for incoming freshmen at XU are handled by the Office of Admissions (504-520-7388).
• arrange visits to campus. All campus visits are handled by the Office of Admissions.
• determine what courses will be accepted from other colleges. If you have questions about transfer credit, please contact the Office of Admissions and/or the respective academic departments
• register students for classes. This is done by academic advisers within the department in which a student majors (or by the Student Academic Success Office if a student has not chosen a major).