NAAHP’s Professional Development & Leadership (PD&L) Committee’s Best Practices Subcommittee has undertaken a thorough review and revision of the pre-health advising best practices for both advisors and institutions. This effort was guided by feedback gathered at the 2024 NAAHP Leadership Session at the Conference in Cincinnati and framed within the updated vision and mission of the NAAHP organization. Our goal was to ensure the best practices reflect the evolving landscape of pre-health advising, recognizing that advisors may serve as professional staff, faculty members, or hybrid roles with teaching responsibilities.
We intentionally expanded the language so that the practices are inclusive of all advising roles, whether director, assistant director, or advisor. This addresses the more narrowly focused original best practices, which tended to emphasize director responsibilities, and broadens them to be more inclusive and applicable to all members of the pre-health advising community. These revisions represent both a deep respect for the existing framework and a forward-looking commitment to strengthening the profession.
A pre-health advisor:
1. Vision, Mission, and Philosophy
● Articulates the vision, mission, and philosophy of the program and explains how pre-health advising contributes to achieving the vision, mission, and philosophy of the institution.
2. Resource Management
● Identifies, utilizes, and optimizes available resources while advocating strategically for additional support to meet evolving program needs.
3. Program Office & Records
● Strategically develop and implement advising initiatives, programs, and services to address student needs while maintaining accurate and confidential student records.
4. Training New Advisors
● Establishes and implements an onboarding system for new pre-health advisors, including the development and regular updating of training materials
5. Internal & External Relationships
● Cultivates and sustains strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders through effective communication, fostering collaboration to enhance the quality of advisee support and outcomes.
6. Advisor Development
● Develops and shares expertise in the pre-health field with students, colleagues, and the broader community, fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration.
7. Professional Development
● Implements an individual professional development plan encompassing short- and long-term career goals, while actively engaging in lifelong learning and professional growth. This engagement includes institutional resources and extends to local, regional, and national pre-health advising networks.
8. Tracking Student Population
● Tracks the pre-health student population, statistics on student demographics, and student progress.
9. Assessment
● Develops and maintains a comprehensive assessment of the pre-health advising program.
10. Committee/Advisory Board
● Establishes, coordinates, or participates in a pre-health committee or advisory board to provide strategic guidance and inform the direction of the pre-health advising program.
An academic institution that supports an effective pre-health advising program:
1. Physical Space & Resources
● Provides appropriate physical space (in a location that is private, accessible and can best serve its entire population), institutional and administrative services, and resources for the pre-health advisor(s) to meet the needs of pre-health students.
2. Recognition of Expertise
● Recognizes specific Pre-Health advisors/Pre-Health advising office as the subject matter expert(s) on campus in terms of pre-health professional advising and the professional school admissions processes.
3. Compensation
● Provides advisors with fair compensation that aligns with that of peer and benchmark institutions, with attention to equity.
4. Professional Development Resources
● Provides financial resources for pre-health advisors for ongoing professional development, including memberships, travel, subscriptions, and educational materials to maintain and enhance their competence as subject matter experts.
5. Diversity and Inclusion
● Promotes a policy of diversity, equity, and inclusion that embraces the broad range of human differences and potential.
6. Advisory Board/Committee Support
● Provides resources for the creation and maintenance of an advisory board and/or pre-health committee, along with recognition and support for those who contribute to the success of the pre-health advising program.
7. Advising Records
● Develops a system for maintaining accurate, secure, and accessible pre-health advising records that meets FERPA standards.
8. Student Identification & Tracking
● Provide resources to assist advisors in identifying and tracking the pre-health student population, statistics on student demographics, and student progress.
9. Communications (Website & Beyond)
● Provides for an accessible communications system that may include a website, email updates, newsletters, events, social media, and alumni outreach to engage prospective students, current students, and alumni effectively.
10. Assessment Plan
● Establishes, in collaboration with the pre-health advisor(s), a plan for assessing the pre-health advising program including its student learning outcomes.
11. Benchmarking
● Benchmarks the pre-health program, its practices, and its advisor training process with those in similarly-structured institutions.
12. Alumni Engagement
● Fosters engagement and networking between alumni, the pre-health advisor(s), and current pre-health students through collaboration with the alumni office and other campus partners.