Health Professions Advising

Leslie North
Health Professions Advisor
315-859-4584
TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT: Please see information on the right side of Health Professions home page.

Preparing at Hamilton

Hamilton College offers outstanding opportunities  for students interested in preparing for a career in the health professions:

  • Exceptional teaching from a distinguished and accessible faculty
  • Extensive funded research opportunities, both during the academic year and over the summer
  • A talented and diverse student body who work together in a culture of academic collaboration and mutual support
  • An individualized health professions advising program that emphasizes academic planning, broad exploration, and hands-on clinical experience
  • A Health Professions Advisory Committee that will write a recommendation for any student who wishes to apply—there is no required GPA or cut-off.  Any Hamilton graduate who has completed four semesters of science at Hamilton may request a committee letter

For almost 200 years, Hamilton College alumni have successfully enrolled in professional schools across the country. Medical, dental and veterinary schools are familiar with Hamilton and understand our curriculum and high standards. Although we are justifiable proud of our success in preparing candidates for professional school and our high acceptance rate, we remind you that admission to professional school remains highly competitive. Simply attending a fine college will not open the door for you. Making good use of the extraordinary academic and extracurricular resources available to you at Hamilton will allow you to compile a record of achievement that will bring you success.

At Hamilton, your postgraduate plans need not dominate your college experience. You can choose any major you like, and you can complete your premedical requirements in whatever sequence is most appropriate for you. Although no student should choose a college based on statistics, it might be useful to know that over the past five years:

  •  40% of Hamilton students planning to attend graduate school in the health professions have studied abroad for at least one semester.
  •  30% of Hamilton's health professions candidates have played one or more varsity sports.
  • The acceptance rate to medical school over the past five years has varied from a low of 72% to a high of 93%. Over 90% of students with a GPA of 3.5 were admitted the first time they applied.


Support along the way

Although Hamilton College students are talented, they hail from all over the country and from all over the world, arriving at Hamilton with different academic preparations each bringing his/her personal strengths and weaknesses. Hamilton has an excellent support system to help students who encounter a class that is uncomfortably challenging. Not only will your professor be happy to assist you, but tutoring is available though the Quantitative & Symbolic Reasoning Center and Writing Centers; departmental review sessions and study groups are frequently offered. Any student who is willing to work hard will find the academic support necessary to succeed.


Clinical opportunities

Students interested in the health professions are encouraged to gain hands-on clinical experience or to observe in a clinical setting. Students often arrange for summer jobs at hospitals near their homes, plan a shadowing experience with a practitioner they know, or request assistance from the Health Professions Advisor in arranging a placement.


Hamilton is fortunate to have two established clinical partnerships:
  • Intensive internship at St. Elizabeth Medical Center, In Utica, NY, where selected students spend five days during the January or March break shadowing third year residents on various services (surgery, internal medicine, family practice, OB/GYN and pediatrics,) attend morning report daily, and experience the life of a resident.
  • Health Experience Learning Program at Burke Rehabilitation Center in White Plains, NY, where selected students spend a full summer working as a nurse's aide, and gain extensive hands-on clinical experience with the team approach to recovery in a world-class rehab hospital.