Pre-Health Professions Committee

Students attending The University of Tampa who intend to pursue professional doctoral studies in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, and podiatry are strongly encouraged to request a letter of recommendation from the University’s Pre-Health Professional Committee (PHPC) referred to as a "committee letter." Most doctoral programs expect a committee letter if the institution offers one.

Deadline:

The deadline for submitting the letter request form is March 1 of the year you intend to apply to professional school. Students apply to professional school a full year before they intend to start, and applications open in the summer. This deadline allows time for faculty to gather feedback and for the student to prepare ahead of time for the application as it is always encouraged to apply early since many schools have rolling admissions. Learn more about your professional school’s timeline on the pre-health page.

For students applying in the 2023-2024 cycle, submit your PHPC letter application to Dr. Padmanabhan Mahadevan by March 1, 2023.

If you are graduating in 2023 but are not applying until the following cycle of Summer 2024, you can apply for a committee letter with this current cycle so we can gather timely faculty feedback. Please indicate your growth year plans in the PHPC letter application. 

Process and Application:

PHPC surveys all UT science (biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics) professors, from whom each student has taken a course, about the student's performance in their courses and other factors as appropriate. These survey results are used to compose an informed, impartial letter that reflects the consensus of the committee with regard to the student’s suitability for graduate professional study in their intended field.

Students should include all available materials regarding name, address, student ID, etc... with a note that exam scores and personal statements will be accepted when they are made available (or written) and included in the application. After all materials have been provided to the committee, the co-chairs will decide if a committee letter will be written. Please note, submission of an application does not guarantee a letter will be written. Please read the PHPC letter application for full instructions.

GPA requirement:

To receive a committee letter, the minimum BCPM GPA requirement is a 3.2 for students applying to allopathic (MD) medical school. Students with a BCPM GPA below 3.2 are urged to contact the co-chairmen of the PHPC for advising and should seek letters of recommendation from faculty members who can best speak to their academic performance and character.

A minimum BCPM GPA of 3.2 is suggested for the other health professions, including osteopathic medical school (DO), to be considered for a committee letter, but lower GPAs will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

*Please note, having a BCPM GPA around 3.2 is not considered competitive for most professional schools. Students should continuously be meeting with the committee and pre-health advisor to make sure they are on the path to the most appropriate career choice for their interests and strengths.

To be able to advise most effectively and write a quality committee letter for each student, pre-health students are required to meet with the pre-health advisor and/or any of the committee members each year they are declared as pre-health, although meeting each semester is highly recommended. These meetings will be noted in your pre-health file. Pre-health students not requesting a committee letter should still follow this advice and meet with the committee and/or pre-health advisor.

Please note, pre-health advising is in addition to a student’s assigned professional or faculty advisor who is the appropriate contact for academic advising.

Please indicate your pre-professional path by filling out our pre-professional interest form. While pre-health is not a major, declaring your interest will allow us to identify you and send you specific information on your intended field.

At the sole discretion of the committee, members of the committee, who volunteer their time to help, may also assist students with portions of the application process, including critical assessment of personal statements, selection of schools, interview preparation and other portions of the process. The committee also conducts practice interviews once students receive interview requests from professional schools. This type of assistance is only available with sufficient advance request to the committee.

For more information about the committee or to seek advice, please contact one of the committee’s co-chairmen:

Pad Mahadevan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Co-Chairman of the Pre-Health Professions Committee
Office: SC230
Phone: (813) 257-5036
Email: pmahadevan@ut.edu

Scott Witherow, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Co-Chairman of the Pre-Health Professions Committee
Office: SC204
Phone: (813) 257-5034
Email: dwitherow@ut.edu

Pre-health advisor:

Jackie Mikulski
Academic Program Specialist, Pre-professional Programs
Office: North Walker Hall
Email: Jmikulski@ut.edu

Other Committee Members:
Michael Carastro
Jeffrey Grim
Ann Williams
Jeffry I. Fasick

While pre-PT/OT/PA students are not required to have a committee letter, they should still be in touch with the pre-health advisor.

Allied health students will receive academic advice from faculty in the Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance.