If you aspire to become a physician, dentist, physician assistant, occupational therapist, or another healthcare professional, Fairfield University's Health Professions Program (HPP) provides the guidance and support to help you achieve your goals.

Through personalized advising, HPP prepares students for every stage of the pre-health journey. From selecting the right courses and securing clinical experiences to navigating the professional school application process and preparing for interviews, our advisors work closely with you to build a strong foundation for success in graduate and professional healthcare programs.

The director of the program, Dr. Geoff Church, and assistant director, professor Christine Earls, meet with students one-on-one and in groups for graduate school advising.

Guides

Each student in the selection of an appropriate course of study for a wide variety of careers in the health professions.

Reviews

The academic standards applied by the various medical/professional schools, and the specific tests required by these schools.

Helps

Students to identify internships, research, and volunteer opportunities.

Discusses

A range of other important issues related to the world of the health professions

Organizes

Program meetings where healthcare workers of professional school Admission officers present information

Comprehensive Prep for Health Professional Applicants

You’ll receive specific advice on how to best prepare yourself to become a strong applicant for admission to a health professions school. Each semester, in addition to regular program meetings with all other pre-health students, you’ll meet one-on-one with a program advisor. Those strategy sessions will help you determine how to best plan and carry out all of the components of building your application packet for graduate programs.

Beginning in the fall of the academic year a student wishes to apply to schools they meet with an advisor to map everything out for the year. Included in this planning is the opportunity to attend workshops relating to personal statement and application writing, how to navigate the grad school common application as well as secondary applications, selecting and requesting letters of support, entrance exam preparation, and interviewing skills. For medical and dental applicants, the end of the year provides an opportunity to have their application vetted by the Health Professions Committee. This group ranks candidates and provides a Fairfield University letter of evaluation (committee letter) to support them through that year’s application cycle.

In addition to the necessary science courses, internships and research opportunities, Fairfield also provides you with a strong background in the liberal arts that emphasizes the ethical and human side of medicine, through appropriate courses in the social sciences and humanities. This helps students build a broad perspective on healthcare and its associated issues, such as patient’s rights, health care policy and legislation, ethics, etc. Students can even minor in Health Studies and develop a deeper understanding of these topics culminating in a research project on a health care issue of their choosing All of this serves to make Fairfield applicants stand out during the very competitive admissions process.

Faculty

The Health Professions Committee consists of faculty members from the sciences as well as the humanities and social sciences. The faculty below are involved in helping the program maintain best practices and in particular, for evaluating candidates for committee letters: 

Registration

For pre-professional exams

Revising

Personal essays

Preparing

For the admissions interview

Geoffrey Church
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Biology
Christine Earls
Instructor of the Practice, Biology
Lawrence Fitzgerald
Lawrence Fitzgerald
Professor of the Practice, Psychological & Brain Sciences
Lisa Naples
Lisa Naples
Assistant Professor, Mathematics
Michael Pagano
Professor, Communication
Glenn Sauer
Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs | Associate Professor, Biology
Liam Sharp
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Physics
Christopher Smith
Assistant Professor, Biology

Life After Fairfield

Fairfield has a long history of success in preparing students with a solid foundation for the health professions. Since 1951, more than 2,000 Fairfield alumni have earned degrees in medicine and dentistry and are practicing throughout the world. Our alumni now occupy many important positions within the medical establishment. More than 500 others have opted for other specialties within the allied health professions. Recent alumni from Fairfield University are now currently attending or have earned medical degrees from many institutions, including the following:

  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Cooper Medical School, Rowan University
  • Drexel University College of Medicine
  • Duke University School of Medicine
  • Florida Atlantic University, Schmidt College of Medicine
  • Georgetown University School of Medicine (Jesuit)
  • George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Zucker School of Medicine, Hofstra University
  • Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (Jesuit)
  • Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
  • New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Penn State College of Medicine
  • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Quinnipiac University, Frank H. Netter School of Medicine
  • Rutgers New Jersey School of Medicine
  • SUNY Upstate and Downstate Schools of Medicine
  • Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine
  • University of Texas, Long School of Medicine
  • University of Connecticut School of Medicine
  • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
  • University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine
  • University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Wayne State University School of Medicine

  • Medicine
  • Dentistry
  • Osteopathic Medicine
  • Veterinary Medicine
  • Physician's Assistant
  • Pharmacy
  • Optometry
  • Podiatry
  • Physical & Occupational Therapy
  • Public Health
  • Toxicology
  • Nutrition
  • and others

Learn how Fairfield's Career Services can support your post-graduate goals, and how our tight-knit alumni network can build career and mentoring opportunities that last a lifetime.