
FAQs
Check the program FAQs to have your questions answered. For additional assistance, please contact our admission team.
Your individual path to a health professions school.
Concordia College has an outstanding tradition and reputation for excellence in preparing students for careers in health professions. Our multi-track program offers two distinct pathways to accommodate student goals, career changers who need to complete all or most science prerequisites and academic enhancers seeking to strengthen their academic records. Experienced faculty will prepare you to become a competitive applicant for your chosen professional healthcare program through rigorous coursework customized to meet your specific academic needs.
We offer pathways to meet the needs of two student populations:
Career Changers | Students needing to take prerequisite coursework for the first time in preparation for standardized tests and application to medical and other professional health programs. Career changers have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in a major and/or minor outside the sciences with an undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or greater. Students may have professional experience outside the field of medicine and have recently decided to pursue a career in medicine or another healthcare specialty.
Academic Enhancers | Students seeking to improve their overall and science GPAs to prepare for standardized tests. Students applying through this pathway have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in any major with an undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or greater. Academic enhancers will repeat science courses and/or enroll in upper-level science courses to strengthen their academic foundation before applying to a health professions school.
The 2022-23 application cycle is closed. The 2023-24 application cycle will open in September.
All students work with the program director to develop a customized schedule based on their individual needs and the specialty track they intend to pursue.
Our Program Tracks offer preparation in the following healthcare specialties:
12-15-month Tracks:
Pre-Medicine Includes Podiatry, Chiropractic and Naturopathic Medicine
Pre-Dentistry
Two-year Tracks:
Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Pre-Pharmacy
Pre-Optometry
Pre-Physical & Occupational Therapy
Pre-Physician Assistant
Culture of Learning Support | Students come to Concordia for academic diversity and exceptional faculty providing individual advising and mentorship. Connect and learn with a cohort of program students during summer courses, and both program and undergraduate students during the academic year. The supportive relationships of your learning community and teaching faculty will play a significant role in your success.
Healthcare Professions Advising | The Health Professions Advisory Committee is committed to your success during the program and your next steps toward preparing for application and admission to the health professions program of your choice. Each student will receive guidance to create a solid personal statement intended to strengthen your medical school application.
Individualized Coursework | Each student will have a program designed to meet their academic needs and career goals. Through one-on-one meetings with the program director, your customized schedule includes the necessary core science requirements needed to achieve strong standardized test scores. Students may elect to take recommended elective courses to supplement program requirements. Your experiences in the program will definitively prove you can excel in a demanding scientific environment. Regardless of your academic path or program track, all students work toward establishing the strongest possible GPAs.
Real Experience | Choose from a wide variety of healthcare organizations in the Fargo-Moorhead area where students may gain experience while completing the program. Patients come from all over the Midwest for world-class healthcare expertise and our signature style of compassionate care. In addition to independent clinics, Fargo is home to three major health systems, Sanford Health Systems, Essentia Health, and the Veteran’s Administration. You may work closely with the Director of Health Professions to find the right opportunity for you that fits your academic schedule.
State-of-the-art Facility | The post bacc premedical and pre-health professions program is offered through the new Sanford Heimarck School of Health Professions. Most classes are held in the Integrated Science Center (ISC), a multi-functional facility designed to promote strong engagement and communication between faculty and students, and to create collaborative interdisciplinary study opportunities.
Concordia Values | The Concordia campus community boasts a rich, vibrant culture. You will gain a true sense of purpose and focus on what it means to become responsibly engaged in the world. Strong, foundational coursework offered in the liberal arts will prepare you to learn, lead and serve with character and compassion.
Check the program FAQs to have your questions answered. For additional assistance, please contact our admission team.
Review admission requirements to determine your eligibility.
The 2023-24 application cycle will open mid-September. Learn more about the application process for career changers and academic enhancers.
I am a proud 2014 graduate of Concordia and attended medical school at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, MN. I am currently a first-year pediatrics resident at Mayo Clinic and plan to pursue pediatric cardiology as my specialty.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt I would not be the doctor I am today (or probably a doctor at all...) if it weren't for the experiences and people I encountered at Concordia. The liberal arts education at Concordia provided me with a solid bedrock of scientific knowledge but also challenged me to think critically, improve my writing, engage in collaborative learning experiences, and learn how to learn from different people, styles and environments. Concordia's faculty were invested in our learning and our future. I had multiple faculty mentors who took time to meet with me, talk through career discernment, provide guidance on how to put together a successful medical school application, help with study strategies for the MCAT, and much more.
My name is Mike Rose. I graduated from Concordia College in 2014 with degrees in Biology and Chemistry. I am currently in my final year of medical school at the University of Minnesota and recently completed a Master's in Public Health at Harvard. I plan to become both a primary care physician and policymaker.
My four years at Concordia made me the person and professional I am today. The combination of the small class sizes, faculty dedicated to their students, and caring, dedicated classmates were what made me into an excellent student.
Concordia expanded my world view, challenged my beliefs, and took a student who had never heard the term social justice to one who sees it as his central life mission.
In my five years since graduation, spent studying medicine and public health - in clinics, hospital rooms and lecture halls - I have not come across a colleague who had better preparation than my peers and I received from Concordia.
My name is Corey Horien. I am a 2013 graduate of Concordia. After college, I spent a year at the University of Oxford as a research assistant in a basic science lab, and I am currently pursuing a combined MD-PhD at Yale. My career goal is becoming a physician-scientist and using computational tools and machine learning techniques to better understand psychiatric disease.
My experience at Concordia was second-to-none. The dedication of the faculty to my learning was amazing. From receiving personalized feedback on essays and exams, to being taught the basic lab techniques, these experiences have helped me get to where I am today. Simply put, the faculty go out of their way to help your learning, development and advancement.
Concordia is an amazing place. You will carry relationships you form with both classmates and faculty members with you for the rest of your life. I met some of my best friends in freshman chemistry, and I still keep in touch with members of the biology and chemistry departments. I feel extremely fortunate (and humbled) to have attended. It was one of the best choices of my life.
Take a closer look at the health profession tracks and the courses required for each specialty.
Explore Undergraduate Elective Course ListUse the links below to learn more about topics related to the premed program. Print or download the Program Overview.
About the Gap Year About the MCAT Sanford Heimarck School of Health ProfessionsMeet the exceptional health professions advisory team supporting students through program.
Learn about tuition costs associated with the Post Bacc Pre-medical program and other important financial information.
Learn more about Concordia's strong foundation in the liberal arts, its rich history and traditions, and what it means to become responsibly engaged in the world.
Connect with us if you have questions concerning your individual academic needs, or would like to schedule a campus visit. Make sure and visit our FAQs page.
See what the Fargo-Moorhead community has to offer.