Pre-Health 

Meet the Faculty | Department Information Sheet

Academic Program
Health care providers are some of the most sought after professionals in today’s society. With its emphasis on the liberal arts and rigorous scientific training, Emory & Henry College has earned a strong reputation for offering excellent preparation for students pursuing careers in the health sciences. While majors in fields such as biology and chemistry are excellent choices for those interested in many of the health care fields, students are able to complete majors in any of the college’s disciplines in route to becoming health care professionals.

Degree Program
Your specific course of study will depend on the health profession in which you are interested and the specific major you choose, so it is important to make early, careful plans about course selection. Pre-Health advisors and members of the Pre-Health Committee can provide you with information about the different health care professions and will talk candidly with you about the rigors and opportunities of pursuing careers in the health sciences. The specific courses required by most health professional schools follow a particular sequence, making it important for students to get into the foundational courses during their first year. At the most basic level, you will need to take classes to meet the minimum requirements that are nearly universal among medical and other health professional schools including classes in mathematics, biology, chemistry, general physics and English.

In addition to your grades, particularly in science courses, and performance on standardized examinations (e.g., MCAT, GRE), evidence of experience in the health field in which you are pursuing is an important factor in the admission decisions of many professional schools. Through its rich array of practicum opportunities, Emory & Henry is able to assist students with pre-professional experiences that allow them to work with practitioners in various health care fields. Additionally, health science programs are interested in students who demonstrate strong leadership and empathy for others. As a small college that stresses student participation and service, Emory & Henry provides the ideal climate to demonstrate evidence of these abilities.


Support Programs
The college offers significant academic support to all of its students, including those pursuing pre-health majors. These supports come in many forms such as tutoring, review sessions from peer instructors, assistance with learning differences (through the Powell Resource Center), and after-class help offered by all of our caring faculty members. In addition, many of our students join Emory & Henry’s active Health Professions Club, which hosts health providers as guest speakers, organizes special events, and sponsors annual trips to various medical and other professional schools.

In terms of financial support, a number of scholarships are available for students interested in  becoming physicians and other health professionals, some for entering first-year students and others for upperclass students. Upperclass students also have the opportunity to participate in a practicum related to a health profession.


Facilities
The Science Division is located in the most modern building on campus, McGlothlin-Street Hall. State-of-the-art laboratories and equipment such as DNA sequencers, an inverted light microscope, and a liquid scintillation counter are available to you beginning your first year. Other equipment includes a thermal cycler-PCR (molecular), refrigeration centrifuge and ultracentrifuge, microcentrifuges, a UV-vis spectrophotometer, a GC Mass spectrometer, and electrophoretic equipment for both nucleic acids and proteins. A cold room and research labs for faculty and students are also available.

Career Options
There are many different fields represented among today’s health care professions. In addition to medicine, these fields include dentistry, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical and occupational therapy, clinical psychology and social work. Within each of the health professions, there are a number of specialty areas in which one can enter. For example, if you are interested in a medical degree, you may specialize in family practice, obstetrics, surgery, anesthesiology, pediatrics, epidemiology and sports medicine. While you do not need to make a final decision about such specialties until you begin advanced training in your chosen health field, our Pre-Health advisors are available to talk with you about the many options that exist within each of the health professions.

Alumni
The strength of Emory & Henry’s training in pre-health programs is confirmed by our successful alumni. Listed below are some of our recent alumni and their specific health care fields. They are illustrative of the variety of institutions that welcome our graduates:

Acacia Lamb, ’06, M.D./Ph.D. student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Medicine, Urbana, Ill.

Anthony Leonard, ’06, M.D./Ph.D. student, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.

Kari Harper Lauderback, ’07, M.D. student, Quillen College of Medicine, Johnson City, Tenn.

Suzanne Bailey, ’03, clinical psychologist, Cherokee Health Systems, Knoxville, Tenn.; Psy.D., Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Elizabeth Hackett, ’05, clinical social worker, Chicago, Ill; M.S.W., Loyola University at Chicago.

Kendrick Peer Mugnier, ’05, professional  counselor, Norfolk, Va.; M.A., Radford University, Radford, Va .

Tarra Waldrup, ’07,  physical therapist, Physiotherapy Associates, Atlanta, Ga; D.P.T., NOVA Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Leah Boardwine, ’05, pharmacist, Roanoke, Va.; Pharm. D., Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Erin Berry, ’03, physician assistant, Roanoke Orthopedic Center, Roanoke, Va.; M.S.P.A., Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Roanoke, Va.



Faculty

Pre-Health Professions Committee

Pre-Health Program Advisor
Michael G. Duffy, mgduffy@ehc.edu
Associate Professor of Physics; B.S. and Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University.

Pre-Health Program Advisor
R. Christopher Qualls, cqualls@ehc.edu
Associate Professor of Psychology, Licensed Clinical Psychologist; B. A., David Lipscomb College; M.S. and Ph.D. Memphis State University

DC Cobler, dccobler@ehc.edu
Assistant Professor of Physical Education and Director of Athletic Training; B.A., Emory & Henry College; M.A. and Ed.D., East Tennessee State University

Jim Duchamp, jcducham@ehc.edu
James Earl Copenhaver Professor of Chemistry; B.A., Kalamazoo College; Ph.D., Yale University.

Ben H. Letson, bletson@ehc.edu
Associate Professor of Philosophy, B.A., Emory & Henry College; Ph.D., Vanderbilt University.

Angelia Denise Stanley, adstanle@ehc.edu
Associate Professor of Business, B.A., Clinch Valley College; M.Acct., Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; Ph.D., Regent University.

Melissa P. Taverner, mptavern@ehc.edu
Associate Professor of Biology; B.A., Randolph-Macon Women’s College; M.S., University of Reading, England; Ph.D., University of Virginia.