For more than 25 years, Mills College has been preparing students to become physicians and other health care professionals. Our program is designed for students with bachelor's degrees who lack some or all of the basic science courses to pursue study in the fields of allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, veterinary medicine, or optometry. Students who need to complete all of the basic pre-medical science courses usually take two years (four semesters) to complete the program. Students who have completed a year of general chemistry and a semester of calculus are often able to finish in one year. The program is flexible and can be tailored to fit a student’s specific background in science and mathematics.

Post-bac pre-med students enroll in regular Mills courses taught by distinguished faculty, with separate lectures designed specifically for pre-med students. The average class size is about 25 students, large enough to offer a diverse intellectual community but small enough to provide individual attention. At Mills, students find a supportive environment of motivated peers who work collaboratively toward mutual goals. Faculty members are accessible and involved in helping students succeed. 

During the spring semester, faculty members schedule extra lectures to help students review for the MCAT, although many students also enroll in commercial MCAT preparation courses. Teaching assistants are available in each course for individual help. Students plan their academic course work, as well as other aspects of their preprofessional training, in consultation with the pre-health professions advisor, John Brabson.

Graduates of the Mills Pre-Med Program achieve a 75–90% acceptance rate to medical school (well over the national average of 50%) and matriculate at some of the nation's most respected schools of medicine, including UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, Washington University, and Yale. Linkages with two allopathic medical schools and one osteopathic medical school allow some of our select students to start medical school in the fall after completing their studies at Mills and skipping the glide year.