Melissa Mellor, COLSA’s pre-professional health programs advisor, joined COLSA in 2019. She loves working with UNH’s pre-health students and helping them design a plan to maximize their success and achieve their goals.
Melissa Mellor: As the pre-professional health programs advisor, I am here to be a resource for both current UNH students and alumni as they explore the health professions and become competitive applicants to professional healthcare programs. I offer one-on-one advising for students to discuss the different health professions to determine which one is the best fit. I also help students create academic plans to make sure they are fitting in all their discovery, major and pre-health prerequisite coursework.
Additionally, I assist students in finding clinical, shadowing and volunteer opportunities to help strengthen their applications.
Mellor: Right after graduating from Bryant University with a bachelor’s in applied psychology, I started working at a small privately owned doctor's office. I was the front office supervisor, and I also did the majority of the billing and coding. This is really where I got my start in the healthcare field. I got a behind-the-scenes look at what happens in a doctor’s office daily, and I worked closely with our doctor, physician’s assistant and nurse practitioner. I also spent quite a bit of my time interacting with patients, insurance companies, hospitals and other smaller offices. I worked at this office for three years before going back to school to earn a master’s in applied developmental and educational psychology.
After graduating with this degree, I spent a year working for Head Start as an assistant teacher. While I loved working with the preschoolers, I realized I had a passion for working with older students, so I started working as an enrollment and retention counselor at another institution in New Hampshire. In that role, I was part of the admissions team, and I was the academic advisor for over 200 online students. After a year of advising and doing general admissions, I was tasked with overhauling the admissions process for our Doctor of Physical Therapy program. This was where I learned the ins-and-outs of the admissions process for professional healthcare programs.
Mellor: Helping students realize their goals are achievable! I love when a student I have been working closely with over the last year lets me know they have been accepted to a professional healthcare program, especially if they were nervous about their chances when we first started meeting.
Mellor: As weird as it sounds, I really enjoy creating four-year plans for students! They are like puzzles, and I love trying to fit all the pieces in place to make sure our pre-health students can graduate on time while completing all of their requirements.
Mellor: Getting into a professional healthcare program isn't easy. It takes a lot of dedication and planning to make sure you have a solid GPA and great experiences. I can help guide you on your journey and provide you with encouragement and make recommendations, but the rest is up to you!
