Agreement provides more health program options to ASU students

Qualifying Arizona State University students will have access to a number of seats in the professional schools and programs offered by Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, thanks to a new articulation agreement between the two schools.

The agreement provides more options to students who are in ASU pre-professional programs.

According to Paul LePore, associate dean for Student and Academic Programs in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the agreement guarantees 51 ASU students placement in Midwestern professional programs per admission year. It provides another valuable option to ASU students during their undergraduate years, LePore said.

Noting that ASU has had similar agreements with chiropractic schools, LePore said, “The difference with this agreement is it’s across all programs at Midwestern, from the clinical psychology program to the college of veterinary medicine. This is our first agreement with a broad scale professional health school and it will provide our students a clear pathway to professional school that is identified early in their ASU career.”

The agreement covers eight Midwestern schools/colleges and programs:

• Arizona School of Podiatric Medicine (three seats reserved beginning fall 2015)

• Biomedical Sciences Program (10 seats, fall 2015)

• College of Dental Medicine – Arizona (five seats, fall 2015)

• Clinical Psychology Program (six seats, fall 2015)

• College of Pharmacy (15 seats, summer 2016)

• College of Veterinary Medicine (two seats, fall 2015)

• Cardiovascular Science Program (six seats, fall 2015)

• Arizona College of Optometry (four seats, fall 2015)

ASU applicants must meet all requirements of the respective college or program and excel in their interview with the Midwestern Admissions Committee for reserved seating consideration.

Phillip Scharf, senior director of retention and academic advising in the CLAS Office of Student and Academic Programs, said the agreement is a natural fit both for ASU and Midwestern.

“Since 2010, ASU students have been accepted to 120 of the roughly 160 medical schools in the country, and we have literally sent hundreds of students to Midwestern over the past few years,” Scharf said. “This agreement will benefit ASU students in that they will know what their options are and it will help them stay on course.”

Which is valuable to a university like Arizona State, added LePore.

“The ability to provide our students with multiple career paths in the health professions is integral to ASU’s mission,” he said. “Our strong partnership with Mayo Clinic and now a formal agreement with Midwestern University offers ASU students tangible and viable career pathways to health-related professional schools.”

The health care industry is a vitally important part of Arizona, and as such, ASU is committed to developing a stronger voice in its future directions, said J. Alan Rawls, ASU’s vice provost of clinical partnerships. The Office of Clinical Partnerships facilitates the efforts of ASU faculty in expanding research and academic collaborations with health care systems and related research institutions.  

“ASU needs to develop a more robust pipeline to careers in the health care workforce,” Rawls explained. “The expansion of health-related degree programs is one example of ASU’s efforts to better prepare students for these careers. By entering into articulation agreements with institutions such as Midwestern University, who are committed to excellence in post-graduate health education, ASU is able to increase the number of our students successfully entering into the health care workforce.”