Dr. Calli Versagli, Associate Professor of Biology, assists students who are interested in pursuing graduate or professional degrees in human and veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, chiropractic, physician assistant studies, and anesthesiologist assistant studies.
Students are encouraged to initially consult with their first-year advisors regarding their academic plans and interest in health professional programs, and later engage with their major advisors. It is essential for both first-year and major advisors to inform academic affairs office when students express an interest in a health professional program. This ensures that relevant information is communicated effectively.
Dr. Calli Versagli, Associate Professor of Biology, assists students who are interested in pursuing graduate or professional degrees in human and veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, chiropractic, physician assistant studies, and anesthesiologist assistant studies.
Students are encouraged to initially consult with their first-year advisors regarding their academic plans and interest in health professional programs, and later engage with their major advisors. It is essential for both first-year and major advisors to inform academic affairs office when students express an interest in a health professional program. This ensures that relevant information is communicated effectively.
Saint Mary’s College provides all necessary courses to meet the prerequisites for graduate or professional programs in health-related fields. Students can enter a Health Professions Graduate program from a completed major in any discipline at Saint Mary’s College. The most popular major is biology followed by Neuroscience, and Chemistry/Biochemistry, but students have also gone on to these programs from majors in music, psychology, and others. Regardless of major, students should strive for a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or better with science grades of 3.6 or better to be competitive.
All commonly required prerequisites can be found in the Bulletin. However, Dr. Versagli is available to aid with scheduling to first-year advisors, major advisors, and students as required. Students are welcome to reach out to Dr. Versagli at any time with questions concerning health professions prerequisites. Prerequisites listed in the bulletin include the following:
NOTE: These listed above are the most common, and there may be specific prerequisites unique to each program. It is very important that students be responsible for their own research of classes required for admission to the graduate health professions program they desire. If a student decides to change to a different track, students may need to take courses outside of Saint Mary’s to fulfill the necessary coursework to complete attributes by graduation.
All students pursuing Pre-Health Professions are advised to enroll in SMC387, Preparing for Health Professions, during the spring semester of their junior year to adequately prepare their applications for health professional programs. If a gap year is planned, enrollment should occur during the senior year.
Students planning to take the MCAT, PA-CAT, DAT, or OAT should schedule BIO375 in the second semester of their junior year to prepare for these examinations, unless a gap year is anticipated.
Dr. Versagli will work with students one-on-one to prepare for the GRE. If a student requires the GRE for their health professional program, the student should reach out to Dr. Versagli (cversagli@saintmarys.edu) before the end of the second semester of their sophomore year for assistance.
Health Professional Programs will visit Saint Mary’s College. Students who have informed academic affairs of their interest in a health profession will receive emails about these events.
Health Professions programs are interested in students who have demonstrated leadership, good time management skills, and an interest in people. Study abroad and opportunities for shadowing or volunteering are also highly valued and are recommended as part of the undergraduate experience at Saint Mary’s. To find opportunities to shadow in a student’s desired health profession, the student should consult The Bridge and resources through Career Crossings to find shadowing opportunities. Students should also consider reaching out to their own healthcare providers to discuss opportunities to shadow.
Some Health Professional Programs require work hours in a medical setting. For these hours, students commonly become a certified nursing assistant (CNA) through local programs or become a patient care assistant for local health care systems. It is the students responsibility to find these programs and provide transportation to these programs. These positions can also be found via Handshake or Career Crossings.
Health Professions programs value campus involvement in extracurricular activities that are not medical related as well. However, grades are important and poor grades cannot be replaced with high involvement in extracurricular activities, medical or not.
Saint Mary’s has a long history of providing quality international programs as an essential part of our educational mission—forming women leaders who will make a difference in the world. As this world becomes increasingly interdependent, the College offers an expanding range of semester, year, semester break, and summer study and service programs in a wide variety of countries, and encourages students to take advantage of them. Learn more about the various Study Abroad opportunities.
Saint Mary’s College is an affiliate in the Lake Erie College of Medicine (LECOM) Early Acceptance Program in which students can be accepted early into either their medical, dental, podiatry or pharmacy programs. Saint Mary’s College students can apply for this program as incoming first year students through the beginning of their junior year. Students can only be considered for one program at LECOM and cannot apply to multiple. If a student accepts a seat with LECOM for any of their programs, the student cannot apply to any other program outside of LECOM unless the student forfeits their reserved seat. The application process begins with an inquiry form, and if deemed competitive, a further application and interview invitation will be given. To begin the inquiry form, follow the link, create an account, and fill in the subsequent prompts.
Saint Mary’s College is an affiliate in the Marian University (MU-COM) Fast Track Program in which students can be accepted early into their medical program. Marian University will give Saint Mary’s College pre-medical students opportunities for early acceptance into, or a guaranteed interview with, MU-COM. Three spots under each track will be reserved for Saint Mary’s College undergraduates each year. Students will have two options toward acceptance:
EARLY ACCEPTANCE TRACK:
Qualifications
• Graduate in the spring semester prior to possible MU-COM matriculation.
• Minimum total GPA of 3.70, with a minimum science GPA of 3.50.
• Minimum MCAT score of 28 or 505, with a minimum biology score of 10 or 127.
• Acceptance is contingent upon maintaining grades and completing pre-medicine requirements.
Benefits
• Guaranteed interview in September of senior year if application is complete.
• Guaranteed admission decision by September 30th of senior year.
GUARANTEED INTERVIEW TRACK
Qualifications
• Graduate in the spring semester prior to possible MU-COM matriculation.
• Minimum total and science GPA of 3.30.
• Minimum MCAT score of 24 or 498, with a minimum biology score of 8 or 124.
• Acceptance is contingent upon maintaining grades and completing pre-medicine requirements.
Benefits
• Guaranteed interview in October of senior year if application is complete.
• Guaranteed admission decision within one week of interview.
To be considered for both tracks, students must do the following:
• Submit application to American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) to be received at MU-COM by July 15 before senior year.
• Submit remaining application materials to MU-COM by August 15 before senior year, including recommendation from director of pre-medical programs or academic advisor.
Saint Mary’s College is an affiliate with Clarkson University and their Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Programs in which Saint Mary’s College students could gain a guaranteed interview with Clarkson. All pre-requisite courses are to be completed at Saint Mary’s prior to graduating from Saint Mary’s, and necessary application process, including meeting deadlines, must be completed.
Students must also meet the following conditions:
• At all times remain in good standing with Saint Mary’s. This includes disciplinary action and legal action on or off campus.
• Reference letters, as described in the specific Program Exhibits attached hereto.
• Overall GPA for all required courses must be met for each program
• Overall Saint Mary’s undergraduate GPA must be met for each program
• Graduate in good standing with a bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s.
All applicants from Saint Mary’s who successfully complete their undergraduate program and complete the Clarkson admission materials shall be considered for admission to the Program(s). This applies to all Saint Mary’s students regardless of their major.
Calli A. Versagli, Program Director/Advisor
274 Science Hall
574-284-4665
Email: cversagli@saintmarys.edu
Print this page.
The PDF will include all information unique to this page.