OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Health and Wellness
Live with Purpose
When you have the drive to help people and communities live in better health and well-being, it can lead to many rewarding careers. You can help them overcome the effects of illness, disease, disability and injury. Encourage informed, healthy choices about diet and fitness. Shape health policy decisions that affect millions. Keep pets happy and healthy.
Any one of these career paths impacting quality of life starts at Oregon State University. Our programs in science, public health and human sciences, nutrition, pre-health areas, pre-pharmacy, pre–veterinary medicine and kinesiology will prepare you to step into a career, go on to graduate school or enter a program in one of the health professions. In addition, with a growing population and longer lifespans, the skills you develop at Oregon State will always be in demand.
You can make a life around making lives better. Starting with your own.
To prepare for study in health and wellness, you should have a strong academic background with an emphasis on mathematics and the sciences, especially laboratory sciences. Because you will need good communication skills to relate with people — especially those who are concerned about their health and well-being — you should also have a well-balanced background in the social sciences and humanities. And, as with most fields today, it’s important to have solid computer skills. If you have questions about preparing for university-level study in these fields while you are in high school, contact the advising staff in the program you’re considering.
The on-the-job experience provided by internships is required in some programs and encouraged in most others. Increasingly, graduate and professional schools in health areas prefer them too. Oregon State offers preceptorships in public health and pre-medicine programs, where you spend time observing patient care, community health, office procedures and other aspects of your preceptor’s work.
Get some help paying for college with a variety of university-wide and departmental scholarships. Most scholarships are awarded based on information in the Oregon State application, but others require separate applications, such as our OSU ScholarDollars portal. The deadline to apply for university scholarships is Feb. 1. Be sure to check with your college and department on the deadlines for other scholarships. Apply Now.
Oregon State offers a resource-rich environment that encourages you to combine your studies in health and wellness with opportunities like the Honors College and study abroad programs. You’ll find challenging, unique experiences that support your academic, professional and personal growth — and have fun, too.
Like internships, research experience can give you an advantage when applying to graduate and professional programs. In most health areas, you’ll have opportunities to make real contributions to faculty and graduate students’ research projects. You may also develop and pursue your own research addressing local, national and international health concerns.
