Pre-Professional

Check out the Pre-Professional options and Degree Maps below!

Pre-Professional Health Care (Jump to Health Care Section)
Chiropractic
Dental Hygiene
Dentistry
Medicine
Nursing Transfer
Occupational Therapy
Optometry
Pharmacy
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy Assistant
Physician Assistant
Radiology Tech
Respiratory Therapy

Other Pre-Professional Programs (Jump to Non-Health Care Section)
Architecture
Engineering
Engineering Tech
Health Information Management
Law
Mortuary Science
Public Administration
Social Work
Veterinary Medicine

View the full list of Degree Maps (applicable for students admitted prior to Fall 2024) and Degree Maps (applicable for students admitted Fall 2024 and after).

Visit the What Can I Do with My Major? webpage to find helpful resources on career paths, employers and more for the programs listed below!

Health Care

If you are interested in a career in medicine, nursing or other health care specialties, the pre-professional health care degree provides a strong foundation for your continued medical study. The pre-professional health care degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree in areas such as chiropractic, dental hygiene, dentistry, medicine, nursing (transfer), occupational therapy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, physical therapy assistant, physician assistant, radiology tech, and respiratory therapy. This degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree. **This degree does not contain actual clinical courses and will not result in a credential.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Health Care

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Chiropractic

The Chiropractic curriculum is designed to prepare students for the general education requirements for most chiropractic colleges. This degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree. **This degree does not contain actual clinical courses and will not result in a credential.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Chiropractic

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Dental Hygiene

Dental hygienists are oral health professionals who, under the supervision of a dentist, provide preventive, educational, clinical and therapeutic services to help the public develop and maintain good oral health. A dental hygienist may work in private dental offices, dental clinics, public health agencies, hospitals, nursing homes, school districts or dental hygiene schools. Most dental hygiene programs are associate degree programs of which the first year of courses can be completed at Barton. This degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree. **This degree does not contain actual clinical courses and will not result in a credential.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Dental Hygiene

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Dentistry

The term “pre-dentistry” refers to a recommended set of classes and extra-curricular activities designed to prepare students for dental school. This degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree. **This degree does not contain actual clinical courses and will not result in a credential.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Dentistry

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Medicine

Medicine is a career driven by service. As such, you are tasked with putting others first. Yet it also allows you to be a life-long learner. It is an occupation where your field of expertise continually expands. As a result, your knowledge base must follow suit. It is a profession that requires quick thinking and decision-making. People will look to you for answers, and it is up to you to provide them. Although this may sound daunting, it puts you in a position where your actions matter. Foremost though, a career in medicine is one of respect. The work you do is important to both the individual and community.

This degree is designed to incorporate pre-requisites for transfer to the program of your choice with general education courses required for a Barton degree. **This degree does not contain actual clinical courses and will not result in a credential.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Medicine

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is a health and rehabilitation profession. Occupational therapists work with people of all ages who need specialized assistance to lead independent, productive, and satisfying lives due to physical, developmental, social, or emotional conditions. Occupational therapists use the "occupations" of self-care, work, and play/leisure activities to increase independence, enhance development, and/or prevent disability.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
OccupationalTherapy

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Optometry

Optometrists are the first point of contact for most patients suffering from vision problems, and provide a vital and increasingly important element within the primary eye care service in the United States. Developments in vision care mean that the role of an optometrist is constantly expanding, bringing with it opportunities to specialize and develop your career. Optometrists have stimulating and challenging careers with good earning potential and good work life balance.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Optometry

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Pharmacy

Pharmacists are essential to keeping people alive and healthy by providing the last line of defense that approves prescribed medications, confirms medications are safe considering the patient’s health status and current drug regimen, make recommendations on which medications are best, and a variety of other functions. If you enjoy science and math and are drawn to helping others, pharmacy is the perfect choice for you. Pharmacists are in increasing demand as the population ages. Students selecting pharmacy careers can look forward to job opportunities, job security, good income, and excellent work life balance.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Pharmacy

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Physical Therapy

Being a physical therapist is a rewarding career where you work with patients one-on-one, see them progress through treatment, to make a difference in their lives. Whether the patient's condition is a result of injury or disease, the physical therapist is a rehabilitation specialist who fosters the patient's return to maximal function. Physical therapists also will work with individuals to prevent loss of mobility by developing fitness- and wellness-oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Physical Therapy

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Physical Therapy Assistant

Physical therapist assistants provide physical therapy services under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist. They help patients and clients who have movement difficulties due to injury or disease, by assisting the physical therapist with therapies designed to improve mobility, relieve pain, prevent or limit permanent physical disability and promote overall fitness and wellness.

Physical therapist assistants work with individuals of all ages, from newborns to the very old. Their responsibilities include:

Implementing selected components of patient/client interventions (treatment)
Obtaining data related to the interventions provided
Making modifications to treatments as directed by the physical therapist to help the patient progress or to ensure patient/client safety and comfort

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Physical Therapy Assistant

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Physician Assistant

Doctors and physician assistants (PAs) are responsible for patient care, but physician assistants are classed as medical support professionals. Physician assistants may examine patients, diagnose illnesses and even create treatment plans, although these may require a doctor's approval. PAs also cannot perform surgeries, although they may assist doctors in the operating room. The level of monitoring varies from state to state and from employer to employer.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Physician Assistant

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Radiology Tech

If a place in the expanding health care field sounds attractive and using technology fits your way of thinking, it could be time to become a radiologic technologist. Become a Radiologic technologist with career options in areas such as: MRI technologist, computed tomography (CT), radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, mammography, and many more as imagining technology advances rapidly.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Radiology Technology

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Respiratory Therapy

Respiratory therapists help people who suffer from chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. People who have had heart attacks or who have sleep disorders and infants who are born prematurely might also need respiratory therapy to help them breathe more easily. They also provide emergency care to patients suffering from heart attacks, drowning or shock.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
RespiratoryTherapy

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Non Healthcare Pre-Professional Programs

Architecture

The Architecture curriculum is designed to prepare students for the general education requirements for most architecture colleges. A degree in architectural studies generally involves coursework such as computer aided design and drafting, math, architectural history and geology. Architects design buildings and other structures and are either self-employed or work for architecture firms, real estate developers, or governmental agencies. The courses recommended are for transfer to most four-year institutions. Since not all schools are identical, you should contact the college or university that you plan to attend for specific course requirement information.

Degree Maps
Architectural Engineering
Architecture

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Engineering

Engineers apply their skills with math, science, computers, and lab equipment to design and improve machines, structures, electrical equipment, and more. The Engineering curriculum prepares you for future study at a university in areas of engineering such as aeronautical, aerospace, agricultural, bioengineering, computer, chemical, civil, electrical, food, industrial, mechanical, nuclear, or petroleum.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Engineering

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Engineering Tech

Engineering technicians help solve technical problems by experimenting, building prototypes, testing products, and other hands-on activities. Barton’s program prepares you to transfer to a university to complete an engineering technology program there.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Engineering Tech

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Health Information Management

Do you like numbers? Mining for data? Health Information Management (HIM) is the practice of acquiring, analyzing, and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. Most health information management specialists focus on patient security or privacy, coding or records administration. Earning an AS degree in Health Information Management (HIM) is designed to prepare students for transfer to most four-year institutions to complete a bachelor's degree in HIM. Since not all schools are identical, you should contact the college or university that you plan to attend for specific course requirement information.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Health Information Management

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Law

Choosing a career is one of the more difficult choices any student can make. The important thing is to have a firm idea of what it takes to enter the profession you desire. For many students with the dream of becoming a pre-professional, most only see that title at its base value. So what truly goes into achieving a career in law and why is it the right choice for you?

An associate's degree with an emphasis in law will help you complete your general education requirements as you pursue a bachelor's degree.

Degree Maps
Associate in Arts
Law

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Mortuary Science

The Program of Mortuary Science at Barton states as its central aims the recognition of the importance of funeral service personnel as:

members of a human services profession;
members of the community in which they serve;
participants in the relationship between bereaved families and those engaged in the funeral service profession;
professionals knowledgeable of and compliant with federal, state, provincial/territorial, and local
regulatory guidelines in the geographic area where they practice;
professionals sensitive to the responsibility for public health, safety, and welfare in caring for
human remains.

The Mortuary Sciences purposes are:

To enlarge the background and knowledge of students about the funeral service profession.
To educate students in every phase of funeral service, and to help enable them to develop the proficiency and skills necessary of the profession, as defined in the preamble above.
To educate students concerning the responsibilities of the funeral service profession to the community at large.
To emphasize high standards of ethical conduct.
To provide a curriculum at the postsecondary level of instruction.
To encourage research in the field of funeral service.

Degree Maps
Mortuary Science

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Public Administration

Choosing a career is one of the more difficult choices any student can make. The important thing is to have a firm idea of what it takes to enter the profession you desire. For many students with the dream of becoming a public administrator, most only see that title at its base value. So what truly goes into achieving a career in public administration and why is it the right choice for you?

An associates degree with an emphasis in public administration will help you complete your general education requirements as you pursue a bachelor's degree.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Public Administration

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Social Work

Choosing a career is one of the more difficult choices any student can make. For many students with the dream of becoming a social worker, most only see that title at its base value. The profession employs professionals with a desire to help vulnerable individuals or communities experiencing challenges in everyday life. Social workers follow a code of ethics rooted in the desire to enhance human well-being and to make sure the basic human needs of individuals are met.

An associate's degree with an emphasis in social work will help you complete your general education requirements as you pursue a bachelor's degree.

Degree Maps
Associate in Arts
Social Work

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.

Veterinary Medicine

Whether they're pets, livestock or working animals, animals matter to individuals and society. Every community needs veterinary professionals to provide animal health care, but veterinarians also do many other kinds of jobs. Many veterinarians are engaged in work at the intersection of both human and animal health. For example, veterinarians play an important role in food safety, where epidemiological research is crucial to forecasting the threat of food-borne diseases and outbreaks. They work to keep cattle and other food animals healthy by developing and testing various farm control methods that help to detect, limit, and prevent the spread of food that might be contaminated by salmonella, E coli or other pathogens. And they’re often on the front lines of surveillance where their extensive medical training can help them to detect and treat the outbreak of diseases that have the potential to make the jump from animals to humans. Outside of companion animal practice, the largest employer of veterinarians in the United States is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Veterinarians are found throughout government in roles where they contribute to public health, the environment, and even homeland security, as well as working in research and public policy.

Degree Maps
Associate in Science
Veterinary Medicine

Check out the Course Search for a full listing of courses available.