Health Professions
Asbury University and the Medical Professions
Do you feel a calling to serve as a medical professional? At Asbury, we encourage you to follow the call to serve God’s people. Even if you are unsure of which area you should choose, God can work through your college courses, your instructors, experiences, and your friends and family to prepare you for what He wants you to do.
Preparation
Asbury University offers over 130 areas of study and a liberal arts curriculum, Foundations, which allows each student to explore a broad range of engaging areas of study. In most cases, it is possible to take the courses required for admission to medical school, in addition to the courses required for a major, and still graduate in 4 years. If you choose to major in the sciences, the majority of the premedical requirements are already included in the major.
Preparing for various graduate school programs involves taking different courses and following different timelines. For more information about preparing for specific careers while at Asbury, please visit one of the links below.
Early-Acceptance / Preferred Admission Programs
Asbury University partners with a number of institutions to provide its students with acceptance (sometimes early acceptance) into medical, dental, pharmacy, and nursing schools.
Alumni
Dr. Susanna Hall ’18 Heinss works as an acute care physical therapist at UK Chandler Medical Center within the pulmonary ICU, the Markey Cancer Center, and across Medical-Surgical teams. She shares: “Asbury’s courses were extremely thorough and covered advanced materials that directly applied to my courses in physical therapy school. Many professors at Asbury, including Dr. Elise Kearns, Dr. Vins Sutlive, Dr. Bobby Baldridge (retired), and Dr. Ben Brammell, held me to a high standard of academic excellence that prepared me for graduate school. Their support and encouragement helped to kindle my love of learning. I love being able to help people make strides toward physical independence and quality of life during early recovery. Caring for people while they are most vulnerable has opened up many doors to show the love of Christ to those around me.”
Dr. Rebecca Whitworth ’17 works as a family medicine resident at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. She shares: “I chose family medicine specifically because I wanted a broad general medical training that would allow me to care for people of all ages and provide me a lot of skills needed in a rural community and on the mission field. My education was unique because faith was integrated into our courses, which is especially important in the sciences. I had some very important conversations with some of my wonderful professors that helped me navigate my deepening knowledge of science and its interplay with my faith. These conversations were invaluable and allowed me to learn while being rooted in truth.”
▾ Shadowing
PHP 323, “Shadowing in the Health Professions”, is an elective course that any student can take to learn more about the health professions by shadowing someone in a particular health-related career. Students often feel intimidated about contacting and requesting to shadow a physician. This course makes it easy, as Dr. Branan provides students with a list of health professionals who have already agreed to accept Asbury students. Students can choose to shadow 15 hours a semester (1 credit) or 30 hours (2 credits).
As you prepare for a career in the health professions your choice of major is your choice, and should be an area you will enjoy and by which you can glorify God. If you are uncertain about your choice of major as you consider preparation for one of the health professions programs, our Health Professions Advisor, Dr. Bruce Branan, will be pleased to assist you. Another place you are encouraged to visit is our Office of Career & Calling, or contact the Director, Michelle Kratzer.