Policies

Advising

Students in pre-health designations who have not declared a degree-granting major are required to satisfy the Pre-Professional Health Careers advising requirements each and every term prior to registering for the next.

The most effective pre-health advising takes place during scheduled, prepared-for, full-length, and in-person appointments. Further, pre-health advising is much more than simply reviewing a student's plans for registration. Consequently, Pre-Professional Health Careers requires that all students meet face-to-face with an advisor at least once per term. We strongly encourage students to schedule these appointments before their eligible registration date each semester.

If a student is able to provide a compelling reason why they cannot attend a scheduled, in-person advising appointment, alternative advising arrangements may be approved at the discretion of the Pre-Professional Health Careers advisor.

Advising appointments must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. Students who need to cancel scheduled advising appointments are asked to do so as soon as possible online via Raider Success Hub, by emailing their advisor, or by calling 806-742-2189.

Students 10 or more minutes late to a scheduled advising appointment will be asked to reschedule. Students who are late and/or fail to attend a scheduled advising appointment three times in a single term will be required to meet with the Pre-Professional Health Careers Assistant Director before being allowed to schedule another advising appointment.

Some questions may not require a full, scheduled, in-person advising appointment. In those instances, students are encouraged to email or call their advisor, allowing for a reasonable response time.

Declaring a Degree-granting Major

While the ten pre-health designations advised by Pre-Professional Health Careers are options available to entering students during the admissions process, they are not degree-granting majors; for example, students will not complete a degree in "pre-medicine." As many health professions schools and programs either require or recommend completion of a bachelor's degree prior to entry, the majority of pre-health designated students will eventually select a degree-granting major.

To support this process and to uphold Texas Senate Bill 25, students in pre-health designations are advised to identify and declare into a degree-granting major by the end of the semester after they earn 30 credit hours. While state law does allow students to remain in undeclared designations for this length of time, the earlier a student formalizes their plans and begins their relationship with a degree-granting major department, its faculty, students, and advisors, the better.

All Texas Tech University students, including those in declared, degree-granting majors, are able to access the advising, programs, and services provided by Pre-Professional Health Careers.

PLEASE NOTE: If a student should remain in a pre-health designation past one full semester after reaching 30 credit hours, a registration and transcript hold will be placed on their account and it will not be moved or removed until the student declares into a degree-granting major.