Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical and Health Professions Program

The Certificate Option is designed for students who require at least one year of pre-requisite coursework to become eligible to apply to professional schools. Students applying to the Certificate Option must designate whether they are interested in the Enhancement or Career Changer Pathway; further information for these pathways is below. The PB-PMHPP is not designed to assist students who have already applied to or are in process of applying to medical, dental, or other health professional school simultaneously with making application to the PB-PMHPP; this is NOT a "glide or growth year" program. Therefore, applicants to the PB-PMHPP are discouraged from taking entrance exams (eg. MCAT, DAT) until they have completed the Duquesne program. Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Requirements.

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Requirements

To successfully complete the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical and Health Professions Certificate Program, a PB-PMHPP student must earn a minimum of 24 credits at the university, as stipulated in the student's individual PB-PMHPP contract and meet the academic standards delineated below. Failure to meet all of these standards will result in a change of status and/or dismissal from the PMHPP.

• Achieve an overall final GPA of 3.25
• Achieve an overall science/math GPA and science GPA of 3.0
• Meet all programmatic requirements as stipulated in the student's individual Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program Contract
• Be in good standing with the University, (school and department), and the PMHPP

While all curricular plans for the Certificate Program are individualized and designed uniquely to meet students' needs, we strongly recommend that all students include at least one non-science course each semester in order to help prepare them for the non-math/science professional expectations required of all medical and health care professionals, including admission examination (eg, MCAT, DAT) critical thinking and reasoning sections, professional school interviews, and future clinical practice expectations. Typically, Certificate Program students take three sciences and one non-science course in each semester. Post-Baccalaureate students take classes with both undergraduate and graduate students at the University.

PB-PMHPP Certificate students are required to enroll in a minimum of two (0 credit) PB-PMHPP courses over the time of their enrollment. These courses are designed to provide PB-PMHPP students with basic training in medical skills and health safety requirements including, but not limited to HIPAA training, blood-borne pathogen training, hand washing, gloving, sterile field, and other health and safety training and assessments. Students also are introduced to inter-professional education and evidence-based practice, and the anatomy, pathophysiology, and terminology of the cardiorespiratory, neurological, and gastrointestinal systems.

To provide students with more options upon matriculation from Duquesne and make them more attractive candidates to medical, dental, or other health professional programs, some PB-PMHPP students also choose to couple their Certificate work with the pursuit of masters degree.  A student enrolled in the Duquesne University PMHPP Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program may choose to couple his/her certificate studies with a master's degree to enhance the learning experience and gain additional qualifications. While a student may choose to pursue a degree in any field, there are 3 master's degree options that are directly related to healthcare and complement the pre-medical requirements.  This Certificate-Masters Option generally requires two full years of study. Admissions to these programs are facilitated by the PMHPP. PB students pursuing masters degrees are eligible for graduate aid, whereas certificate (only) students are not eligible and must rely on monies remaining in their undergraduate aid pool. The PB-PMHPP currently has three options for masters degrees under this program:

• Master of Arts in Health Care Ethics
  • Students who have the majority of their science requirements met or those who are interested in expanding their understanding of social and ethical issues in health care may wish to combine the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate with a Master of Arts in Health Care Ethics. The M.A. degree program includes a total of ten courses (30 credits), one required course plus nine courses selected from the general Healthcare Ethics courses. The required course is a general graduate-level introduction to ethics. The nine HCE courses will be chosen by the student with advisement according to the student's interest.
• Master of Science in Biotechnology
  • The Master of Science in Biotechnology is designed to provide advanced graduate training in the natural sciences, while enabling students to consider other career options for their scientific knowledge through coursework in business, ethics and leadership. Duquesne biotechnology students learn not just science, but also how to participate and lead technical development teams and how to use their background in the diverse career opportunities within biomedicine. The M.S. in Biotechnology combines advanced training in the sciences with instruction in the essentials of regulatory affairs, medical devices, commercial research and product development.
• Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
  • With rapid advances in technology, and as generations live longer, more active lives, the demand for biomedical devices, procedures and other solutions continues to grow as well. Biomedical engineers with advanced degrees have even more opportunities for expanded responsibilities. This 32-credit MS-BME program is designed to be flexible to serve both full-time students and working professionals. Students will have significant opportunities for research in state-of-the-art labs, working alongside accomplished faculty. Graduates of the program will have the experience to perform research and engineering design in a variety of healthcare settings.
• Master in Healthcare Administration 
  • Be prepared to redefine the future of healthcare with a Duquesne Master's of Health Administration degree-the first fully online MHA program, (42 credits in 16 months) in the Pittsburgh area. You are built to impact the lives of others and we can help you reach your goals as a Health Administration leader. Our program is designed to provide knowledge, skills and values necessary for our professionals to thrive in leadership and administrative positions in healthcare, including: data analytics, population health, and compliance. 

*Admissions requirements vary by program, and acceptance is not guaranteed. Supplemental application materials submitted to PMHPP will be shared when application is made to these programs; however, applicants also may be required to provide additional application materials and/or essays.

Students interested in one of the master's degree options should apply first to the PB-PMHPP through the online application, and then await further instructions regarding the master's application, once accepted to the PB-PMHPP. Should a student choose to pursue a master's degree program not listed above, it would be the student's responsibility to meet all requirements of that alternative masters degree program, and to pursue the application requirements independently.

Applicants who need less than 24 credits to meet their admission requirements for medical, dental, or other health professional program or admission examination pre-requisites, and prefer a more independent approach may be interested in pursuing the PB-PMHPP Non-Certificate Program. As with the Certificate Program, students will work with a PB-PMHPP advisor to create individualized curricula. Students in this Non-Certificate Program are not eligible to enroll in the PB-PMHPP courses and are not eligible for PB-PMHPP Certificates, Duquesne University endorsement/committee Letters, or assistance with the preparation of their applications. They will be eligible for assistance with the submission of their professional school letters. Students in this program are required to complete all coursework in no more than 24 months or two years (whichever occurs first).

However, if you want to have access to all the benefits the PB-PMHPP has to offer, the certificate option, whether coupled with a master's option or not, is the best route.

The on-line application is now open.

Complete the on-line graduate application. Please choose graduate from the drop-down menu with the area of study as Post-Bacc Pre-Med.

**Weekend Pharmacy or Second Degree Nursing applicants should NOT fill out the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical and Health Professions application. Please apply to those programs specifically.

After hitting submit, the application checklist will appear with supplemental items that will need to be sent to the PB-PMHPP office in order to complete your application. Some materials may be uploaded on-line directly by you, while others need to be official documents. Please see an explanation as to what is needed below:

Items that may be uploaded by the applicant include:

• Completed Math/Science GPA worksheet. Note: all post-secondary math and science (biology, chemistry and physics) course work must be included; if a course was taken more than once, ALL attempts should be included in the calculation.
• A personal statement, maximum one page in length, (single-spaced, 12pt. font), describing your professional goals, why you want to study that discipline, what you have done to prepare for that discipline and what you hope to gain from the Pre-Medical and Health Professions Post-Baccalaureate Program specifically. (You should not be using a general personal statement that you have used for other applications.) Note: If also planning to apply to one of our dual masters programs, you may need to include a separate, brief statement as to why you wish to pursue that degree path.
• A CV or resume that includes all of your volunteer, research, shadowing, employment and/or other pre-application experiences that support your intent to pursue medical or health professional programs (eg. medical scribe, dental observations). Please provide information about those experiences that includes a description of the experience, time interval, total hours, and summary of activities/responsibilities.
• Copies of any previously submitted professional school applications (e.g. AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, etc.) made to medical or health professional schools

Items that MUST be sent from official source:

• Official transcripts sent directly from ALL post-secondary institutions where you earned credit. These should be sent%20electronically (preferred) from the post-secondary institution or we also accept official transcripts via US Mail. Please do not send transcripts to the Admissions office.
• Two letters of recommendation that speak to your academic ability, social skills, qualifications for your intended profession, and other professional attributes. These letters should be written with the specific intent to attend the PB-PMHPP. Letters may be sent one of two ways:
  • Via email by including your recommender's contact information on the application in which they will be sent further instructions on how to send the letter electronically.
  • Via US mail by giving them the printed instructions included in the application. These letters should be in sealed envelopes with the recommender's signature written across the back.
• We do not encourage nor require you to take graduate admissions tests, however, if you have already done so, please submit official score reports of all graduate tests taken. (e.g. MCAT, DAT, GRE, or OAT) You must submit copies of all official score reports. Failure to report your attempts and scores could result in your dismissal from the program, if admitted.

Any items being mailed may be sent to:

Duquesne University Pre-Medical and Health Professions Programs
600 Forbes Avenue
700 Fisher Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15282

The PB-PMHPP application deadline has been extended to June 1st; the application and supplemental materials must be submitted by this deadline.

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, but no later than June 1st. While the PMHPP may accept applications after this date at their discretion, course availability cannot be guaranteed.

New cohorts begin each fall only. A career changer student may request to begin a pre-requisite course sequence over the summer in order to expedite his/her timeline, depending on timing and availability.

Note: Career Changer applicants are encouraged to apply before February 1, if, upon acceptance, they plan to begin classes during the summer of the application year.

Please note that if any false, misleading or non-factual information submitted as part of the application and/or enrollment process is discovered it will be cause for immediate rescindment of an interview or acceptance.