Hawaii Pacific University

HPU has an excellent pre-med program along with pre-med advising with Dr. Louis Primavera. Admission to healthcare professional schools (medicine or one of the related health professions – dentistry, optometry, veterinary and others) is very competitive but a realistic goal for capable students who carefully plan their undergraduate degree programs. Most professional schools value multi-talented applicants who possess a strong background in the liberal arts and sciences. Hawai'i Pacific University does not recommend one specific academic major for students planning to apply to healthcare professional schools. Instead, students are advised to pursue their minor in Pre-Medical Studies in addition to their chosen major. Currently, humanities or non-science majors may have a slight advantage in terms of medical school admissions (due to perceived versatility). However, the path of a science major to medical school is probably shorter due to the number of courses taken. A minor in pre-medical studies degree would allow any major at HPU to pursue a career in medicine (or any other healthcare profession of their choice) regardless of their formally declared major program of study. The premise behind this minor program is that any HPU major will be able to initiate their studies to achieve success on their healthcare professional school qualifying examinations.