Center for Pre-Health Advising

“Pre-Health 101” is a great place to begin learning about all things pre-health. It is the most common way that CPHA “meets” with first year students. This online orientation (available to you as a Canvas course) introduces you to exploring healthcare careers, pre-health coursework, building experience outside the classroom, and possible timelines to health professional school exams and applications.

We designed the pre-health orientation with first year students in mind, but we encourage anyone with interest in a health profession to enroll at any point in your preparation. It is a great resource for everyone. Look for it in your Canvas course library after you sign up for Pre-Health 101. 

We are committed to first year students! And Mike Hill is our first year student specialist. He writes and runs the online pre-health student orientation (“Pre-Health 101”), offers drop-in advising for first year students every Friday during fall and spring semesters, gives a wide range of classroom presentations, and runs First Year Planning Sessions.

Please use all the resources we offer first year students:

Pre-Health 101. This online orientation is a great introduction to all things pre-health.

Sign up for Pre-Health 101

First Year Fridays are drop-in hours reserved specifically for first year students. They take place every Friday of fall and spring semester from 9 am to 12 pm.

First Year Fridays Sign up Form

First Year Planning Sessions are offered fall and spring semesters as well. This is a time for you to begin planning your pre-health coursework and co-curricular experiences with the direct support of Mike and other pre-health advisors.

Learn more about First Year Planning Sessions

Quick question? Please email us at questions@prehealth.wisc.edu!

First year student? Please see the First Year Advising tab for advising options.

Second year year students and up, including new transfer students: Please make an appointment to talk with us about your pre-health interests and plans using Starfish. Please monitor your email as you wait for your appointment to begin.

• Appointments (in-person and virtual) are released every Wednesday via Starfish.
• Need a MOCK INTERVIEW and can’t find an opening in Starfish? Email us at questions@prehealth.wisc.edu!

Note: every year during the month of May, appointments and drop-ins are reserved for those actively applying to health professional programs in the current cycle.

Not a current applicant, but have pre-health questions during the month of May? We’re still here for you. The questions@prehealth.wisc.edu inbox is monitored by our advisors daily. Our website also has an abundance of information to help you wherever you’re at in your pre-health journey.

Applying to health professional programs this cycle? Please also see our Applicant Advising information.

If you are an alum, please email us at questions@prehealth.wisc.edu, and we will help you arrange an appointment. We look forward to meeting with you remotely (by phone, Zoom, MS Teams, etc.) or in-person. Please also continue to remember that there is no time limit in our services to you. We will be here to support you for as long as you want to work with us.

If you want to talk with us about your application to health professional programs, please read all the information below.

First, if you are planning to apply to a health professional program in the coming year, please sign up for a CPHA Application Course. These are Canvas courses that serve as resource libraries. Each one introduces you to the ins-and-outs of applying to programs.

Common Applicant Advising Conversations:

• We will help you plan the timing of your application and reflect on what experiences you need to build before you apply.
• Application Statements
  • We will meet with applicants two times to talk about your personal statement, two times to talk about work/activity statements, and two times to talk about secondaries. Please do not schedule more than two appointments with us about any one of these kinds of statements. We need to distribute our time to advisees as equally as we can. See below for opportunities to work with other writing specialists on your application statements.
  • Please send us the statement(s) you want to work on at least 24 hours before your appointment.
  • If you want to talk about work/activity/experience statements or school-specific secondaries/supplemental essays, please choose three to five that you want to work on and send us only those essays at least 24 hours before your appointment.
• Mock Interviews
  • We offer applicants two mock interviews — one for you to practice the traditional interview format and a second for you to practice the multi-mini interview format.
  • Please only make mock interview appointments after you have been invited to interview at a health professional program. When you make a mock interview appointment, please specify in your appointment note the school(s) for which you want to practice.
  • Need a mock interview and can’t find an opening in Starfish? Email us at questions@prehealth.wisc.edu!

Other application statement writing specialists: the UW-Madison Writing Center

• In lieu of an in-person workshop, the Writing Center has made their Personal Statements for Graduate Health Professions Programs workshop (with attendant materials) available online.
• The Writing Center also offers peer feedback groups for current students and alumni. Please sign up here.
• In addition, the Writing Center offers 45-minute appointments for current UW-Madison students for you to work on your personal statement with them. This may be done via email or video chat. Please learn more and sign up here.
• The Writing Center also offers a list of proofreaders and editors who are all graduate students or recent PhDs. They charge very low rates for their service. Check them out.
• And for alumni, Madison Writing Assistance offers individual remote appointments for you to work on your personal statement with a writing specialist.

CPHA is committed to making drop-ins as accessible as possible for all UW-Madison undergraduates and alumni. We look forward to seeing you in-person or virtually!

The drop-ins sign-up form  will open 10-15 minutes before the drop-in session begins, and it will close at the end of the session. To attend drop-ins in person or virtually, sign in using the sign-up form and follow the instructions on the form. Please read the instructions carefully and keep an eye on your email. Thank you!

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Fall 2023 Drop-in Hours

2nd Year+ (including transfer students and alumni) Drop-in Advising 

• Tuesdays 1:00 to 3:30 pm
• Wednesdays 1:00 to 3:30 pm

First Year Drop-in Advising (First Year Fridays)

• Fridays 9:00 am to 12:00 pm