Preparing the next generation of healthcare providers
The liberal arts are increasingly a pathway for careers in healthcare, and the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts provides the foundational skills for that journey.
It might surprise people to learn that psychology, English, economics, and history are among the most popular undergraduate majors of medical school applicants.
In fact, students in these and other liberal arts fields go on to all kinds of careers in healthcare, and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at the University of Minnesota prepares them with the foundational skills to do just that.
The College of Liberal Arts is the largest college of the University of Minnesota, with more than 12,000 students. Greater than 30 percent (around 4,000) have indicated an interest in a healthcare career.
“CLA is a destination for pre-health, which goes a little bit against the narrative that exists out there,” says Jason Pennington, CLA pre-health coordinator.
Pennington points out that many of the medical school admissions criteria established by the American Association of Medical Colleges deal with a human—not necessarily with the science behind the human.
“Medicine is first and foremost a human activity involving other people, and these are not easy professions,” says Pennington. “They are often dealing with great suffering, questions of life and death, and so in those moments, when you're the doctor, or the nurse, or a caregiver of whatever kind, it's not enough to know the chemistry. It's not enough to know the biology. It’s understanding, ‘How can we be that human when somebody really needs us?’ That is what the liberal arts is.”
“You of course need to meet the prerequisites,” Pennington adds. “You need to have a strong science foundation. But the good thing about a liberal arts education is that there is the space for that.”
Quiz
How many unique majors are offered through the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts?
20
Sorry, try again!
35
Sorry, try again!
50
Sorry, try again!
65
Correct!
Wherever your path may lead, CLA can help you get there, with 65 majors to choose from and programs, faculty, and advisors ready to support you!
Flexibility when encountering the unexpected
Sophomore Claire Reinke ’27 ranks eighth in University of Minnesota Gopher Athletics women's swimming and diving history in both the 100 and 200 butterfly events.
But she might not be where she is today were it not for a speech pathologist. During Reinke’s junior year of high school, she was having trouble regulating her breathing, which a speech pathologist traced to her vocal cords. After the pathologist taught Reinke vocal cord training exercises, the issue went away, and her swimming improved. That sparked her own career pathway.
“I started doing research into different types of speech pathology. And then my freshman year at the University of Minnesota, I took an intro class, and I’ve been interested ever since.”
Her goal is to enter into a two-year speech pathology program after graduating with a BA in speech-language-hearing sciences from CLA. She hopes to someday work with stroke patients, helping them to regain their speech.
“CLA has just made it very streamlined. It’s very clear the order of classes you can take, but you also have a lot more opportunities to explore electives, which was appealing,” says Reinke.
Inspired to become a physician for all
Sophomore Izaan Rana ’27 was born and raised in the suburbs of the Twin Cities but has extended family in Pakistan. He’s majoring in human physiology and chose CLA because it is aligned with the kind of physician he hopes to be.
“CLA offers you so many perspectives. It offers you so many opportunities to think about things in a different way and use that to kind of mold the person that you want to become,” says Izaan.
Izaan says that a variety of courses have opened his eyes to different perspectives, but it was a language course—Urdu, the language of his extended family in Pakistan—that really changed his world.
“Taking that course ended up being one of the greatest things that I've ever been able to do for myself … and for me as a future physician,” says Izaan. “Having that deeper love and appreciation for my own culture has given me the ability to appreciate all different types of cultures, because at the end of the day, when I am a physician, I'm not just going to be seeing one type of person. I'm going to be seeing all different types of people.”
Pennington says that outcome is intentional.
“When you look at a text in a deep way in an English program, a philosophy program, a language program, or a history program—any of these areas—you’re doing work to increase critical judgment, to increase ethical acuity, to increase emotional intelligence. These programs are designed to bring these essential skill factors out of students,” says Pennington.
Izaan believes his well-rounded education will ultimately lead to his success as a physician, and as an individual—as a human.
“A mentor told me that one of the key characteristics that makes successful people successful is not whether they're the tallest, the strongest, or the smartest. What they have in common is that they're adaptable.” says Izaan.
