Healthcare pathways

The job outlook for careers in healthcare are in demand and there are numerous avenues to have a rewarding career helping others.  If you are interested in a medical or health care career, including as a doctor, dentist, veterinarian, nurse (RN and LPN), dental hygienist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, nutritionist/dietician, radiology/sonography technician, physical therapist, and physicians assistant, you will follow one of two transfer options to meet their program prerequisites.  You can learn more about these and other career opportunities in healthcare on the Explore Health Careers page.

If you are working towards a career in nursing, radiology/sonography, dental hygiene, physician's assistant, and physical therapy, you will often follow the pre-nursing DTA.  If you already have a bachelor's degree and just need to complete prerequisite courses, we offer the classes you may need including Anatomy & Physiology (BIOL& 241 and BIOL& 242) and Microbiology (BIOL& 260).

For those interested in pre-medicine such as physician, dentist, veterinarian, pharmacy, or food science/nutrition, you will typically need to transfer to a four-year university to obtain a bachelor's degree, then attend graduate school for medical training. The best path towards transferring towards the bachelor's degree is earning an associates degree at Edmonds College, such as our AST-1 or biology DTA.  Learn more about these career pathways on the pre-medicine pathways page.

Regardless of the path you choose, medical transfer programs often require patient care experience prior to applying to these programs.  Getting a certification through our Allied Health Education programs for phlebotomy, EKG technician, Certified Nursing Assistant, dental assistant, and more will help you gain this valuable experience while completing your academic courses and can get you started working in healthcare sooner.  For more information and advising about the Allied Health Education programs, please reach out to the Allied Health faculty.

To create an academic plan and learn more about transfer requirements for health care schools, meet with a biology advisor specializing in healthcare (Lori Hays or Jonathan Miller) or the Edmonds College advising department to create an academic plan and transfer requirements for health care schools. You can also find additional information about advising on the advising health care majors page.

Why Edmonds College?

Whether you are returning to school and just need a few prerequisite courses, are starting your career or switching jobs, Edmonds College can help you get started in your career in healthcare.  We offer numerous support programs for you as you begin your career. You can jump-start your career through Running Start to meet high school requirements and began earning college credit while in high school or I-BEST if you are needing pre-college math or Engligh prerequisites. At Edmonds College, our affordable classes are small, with flexible learning and scheduling options no matter what stage you are at in your health care career. We offer science and math tutoring in the STEM study room and additional tutoring that can help you with your biology courses. You can also take 1 credit corequisite classes (BIOL 210, BIOL 251/252, and BIOL 261) and receive additional instructor support in cellular biology, anatomy & physiology, and microbiology courses.

I-BEST Support

If you are a student needing to take pre-college English and/or pre-college mathematics, you may qualify for I-BEST courses.  The following I-BEST courses allow you to take the pre-college courses concurrently while earning the prerequisite course credits needed towards the pre-nursing pathways or for those just needing prerequisites for a variety of health care careers. These I-BEST courses include:

• STEM 100 with pre-college English*
• NUTR& 101 with pre-college mathematics*

*Eligible pre-college English placements include: AENGL 90 (ELA 90), AENGL 93 (ELA 93), AENGL 96 (ELA 96), ENGLP 90 (PREP 90), ENGLP 93 (PREP 93), ENGL 99 (PREP 99)

*Eligible pre-college math placements include: MATH 41-42, MATH 47 (PREP 47), MATH 71-74 (PREP 71-74), MATH 77 (PREP 77), MATH 81-84 (PREP 81-84), MATH 87 (PREP 78)

For advising related to these and other I-BEST courses, please contact the I-BEST program advisors for enrollment in these courses.

Meet Our Students

Student Nurses Organization

If you are interested in nursing, you can participate in the Student Nurses Organization (SNO) student club. Our activities include hosting guest speakers relevant to pre-nursing students, such as transfer schools, TEAS/PAX testing information, and other topics. If you are interested in being an officer or want to participate in club activities, sign up using the SNO website.

Student Success Stories

"It was my privilege to be a student at Edmonds College. Biology teachers at Edmonds gave me the opportunity to learn new things and grow out of my comfort zone into the field I have chosen as my career. They helped me build my confidence and to step into the real world with knowledge. I will be forever grateful for that."

Tien P.- BSN Nursing Student -Seattle University

Read More of Tien's Story

"I am currently a nursing Student at Seattle University College of Nursing earning my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. I graduated Edmonds in 2020 with my AS in Pre-Nursing. I took a gap year worked at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health as a supply technician helping with emergency, surgery, and unit floors supplies. I expected to graduate in 2023 and work in Neonatal or Pediatric Nursing. Being able to help people in need is my most passion and I am truly thankful for all the experience I have had from Edmonds College to where I am now"

I am also a member of Tau Sigma National Honor Society.

"The solid education I received at Edmonds has been the foundation for my successes in this new radiography coursework and clinical experiences. I’m now starting my second year of RT courses at Bellevue, and enjoying every minute of it!"

Lisa O.- Radiologic Technologist Student- Bellevue College

Read More of Lisa's Story

"After more than 20 years working in a corporate environment, I decided I needed a drastic career change. I did a ton of research, and ultimately decided to become a Radiologic Technologist because it offered so many interesting career pathways."

"It’s a competitive program, so success in the prerequisite courses was going to be critical to my application. I chose Edmonds College for these foundational classes. I had very little science education in my background, so learning Anatomy & Physiology (essentially from scratch) was quite a challenge for me.  My professor, though, was an enormous help. She provided instruction in words, pictures, videos, interactive tools, and other ways that made it easy for me to learn the concepts in whatever method worked for me.  I also sent her so many questions through email, or we would dig deeper on various topics after class. She was incredibly patient with all my queries and thorough in her explanations, ensuring I had a solid understanding of the concepts."

"The amazing part about this biology department is their willingness and determination to help each individual student succeed and achieve their goals and dreams in life. " 

Erika S.- Physical Therapy Doctorate-University of New England

Read More of Erika's Story

I decided to go back to school to pursue my dreams of becoming a physical therapist, but being out of school for eight years made it more difficult to know how to study and succeed. The biology department at Edmonds College went above and beyond to help me return to the classroom and gain confidence in understanding the information. The amazing part about this biology department is their willingness and determination to help each individual student succeed to gain their goals and dreams in life.  

My first biology class was when I was working a full-time job and a part-time job and needed some accommodations to have a lab time to support my schedule. As I continued through the biology department, I continued to have the support of the professors and staff to learn and grow, but they all mentored me to ensure that I would succeed in my goals. This department not only made these accommodations, but they were also willing to meet after class even though it was late to answer the many questions I had. I felt so supported with the first class that I decided to continue at Edmonds to obtain all my prerequisites needed to apply to doctorate programs in physical therapy.

While taking Anatomy and Physiology, the support continued, and it was great because I am a why learner which is a lot of work for many professors. These professors gave so much of their time to ensure that I was able to learn with hands-on and in-depth learning but were also willing to help my friends in the class learn, that was most helpful to them. I would either email my professor or stay after to ask her more in-depth questions which helped me remember the information. The staff that assists with the lab also helped so much in providing many resources to help us succeed, and she was willing to help when you had a bad day.

After I finished my time at Edmonds College the support never stopped, during my first semester in physical therapy school I had a question that I could not find the answer to, so I  emailed my old professors, and right away, they were able to provide me resources and a brief explanation of the topic I was struggling with. I know that I would not be where I am today without the kindness, determination, passion, and respectful demeanor each member of the biology department provided to me especially trying to find my path in life.