Preparation in the health professions at Holy Cross is exemplary. Holy Cross students have gained acceptance at the very best medical and other health professions schools and overall earn acceptance to medical school at approximately twice the national average.
Our approach to health professions advising allows applicants from Holy Cross to know when they are well prepared for application and consequently have an excellent chance of being admitted to a program in their chosen field. While medical school admission is highly competitive nationally, recommended Holy Cross students had an acceptance rate of above 80%.
Holy Cross has long enjoyed an excellent reputation for its success in preparing students for the health professions. More than 10% of living Holy Cross alumni are practicing medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, etc., throughout the world today. Holy Cross students have been accepted at almost every medical school in the country, and our alumni occupy important positions throughout the entire medical establishment.
Between 30 and 55 Holy Cross students and alumni apply to medical school per year and more than 75 students per year have gone on to health professions schools (medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, etc.).
In the past several years, we have had at least one student accepted at each of the following list of medical schools.
Medical School Acceptances
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Alumni Success
Many of our alumni have distinguished themselves as deans of medical schools, as researchers, or dedicated and talented practitioners. The following is a sample.
David G. Butler '61 is an obstetrician/gynecologist and is committed to helping underserved individuals through his humanitarian outreach efforts in Milot, Haiti. Since 1992, he has made numerous, periodic visits to Hôpital Sacré Coeur, where he cares for women's obstetrical and gynecologic needs. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Leo M. Cooney, Jr., M.D. ’65, Humana Foundation Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, is a highly respected rheumatologist and geriatric clinician. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Joseph T. Coyle Jr., M.D., '65, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, is at the forefront of research on treatments for such conditions as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
William F. Crowley Jr., M.D., '65, a Harvard Medical School professor of medicine, is a leader in the field of endocrinology. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Peter J. Deckers, M.D., ’62, executive director of perioperative services, dean emeritus and former executive vice president for health affairs at UConn Health. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Gregory M. Dever, M.D., '68, has dedicated his professional life to improving medical care in the South Pacific and setting up systems for training health care providers. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Mark J. Doherty, D.M.D., M.P.H., ’70, president and CEO for Commonwealth Mobile Oral Health Services, which brings quality dental care to children and adolescents who cannot afford it. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Marian F. Earls, M.D., '76, is the director of pediatric programs at Community Care of North Carolina and a practicing pediatrician in Greensboro, North Carolina. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Anthony Fauci, M.D. ’62, is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he is leading the government's efforts to combat the AIDS virus. For his efforts he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Lasker Award.
Robert Ferris '92, D.O., is chief of the Division of Technical Leadership and Research in the Office of HIV/AIDS at the United States Agency for International Development, and oversees a $125 million technical assistance and research portfolio. At USAID, Bob has provided technical assistance to more than 30 national HIV programs, including 20 nations in sub-Saharan Africa. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Deborah L. Fuller, D.M.D., M.S. ’91, is a public health dentist in Rhode Island who founded a program for underserved children and works closely with the state’s first free dental clinic. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Jason F. Hall, M.D., MPH '96 is chief of colorectal surgery at Boston Medical Center.
Robert A. Harrington, M.D. '82 is chair of the Stanford University Department of Medicine and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Col. Malcolm N. Joseph, III, M.D. USAF (Ret.) ’71 is a retired chief flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force who supported the White House and Congressional Special Air Missions for three presidential administrations. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Capt. Joseph P. Kerwin, M.D. USN (ret.) '53 is physician and former NASA astronaut who was the first physician to be selected for astronaut training and served as science-pilot for the Skylab 2 mission in 1973.
Lisa D. Levine, M.D., M.S.C.E. ’01, a physician at Penn Medicine, has brought healthcare to underserved communities around the world. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Robert Emmet Morris, D.D.S., M.P.H., ’65, an international health consultant, has devoted over 40 years to improving the lives of vulnerable populations, particularly children, refugees, victims of conflict, and those affected by HIV/AIDS. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
John J. Mulvihill, M.D., '65, a physician-scientist at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, is a leading expert in the field of medical genetics. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Joseph Murray, M.D. ’40 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 for the first successful kidney transplant.
William Nolen, M.D. ’49, wrote many books on medicine including “The Making of a Surgeon” and “A Surgeon's World.”
Richard J. O’Reilly, M.D. ’64, a pediatric oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, pioneered the development and clinical application of cellular therapies to treat lethal diseases. He was the first doctor to conduct a successful marrow transplant for an unrelated, compatible donor — a technique now used successfully on more than 2,500 cancer patients annually. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Joyce O'Shaughnessy, M.D. '78 is a medical oncologist at Texas Oncology-Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
George Paletta, M.D.'84 is head team orthopedic surgeon for the St. Louis Cardinals.
David Ryan, M.D., ’88 is chief of hematology/oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, the clinical director of the Mass General Cancer Center, and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received an honorary degree from Holy Cross in 2018.
Richard J. Santen, M.D., ’61, professor of medicine in the division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In the mid-1970s, he recognized that blocking an enzyme called aromatase could be highly effective in treating breast cancer in women. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Jennifer Schneider, M.D. '97 is president of Livongo Health, a data-based health coaching program.
Robert Scully, M.D. ’41 was the longtime editor of the Weekly Clinicopathological Exercise from Mass. General Hospital, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is probably the most widely read regular column in all of medicine.
James Shannon, M.D. ’25 was director of the National Institutes of Health and is considered to be the "father" of the National Institutes of Health.
David E. Wazer, M.D. ’78, radiation oncologist-in-chief; chairman, department of radiation oncology; and chairman and professor, Tufts University School of Medicine. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Arthur E. Weyman, M.D. ’62, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a pioneering researcher and educator in echocardiography whose findings have resulted in the use of echocardiography in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac patients worldwide. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
John A. Zaia, M.D. '64, is City of Hope Medical Center’s director of the Center for Gene Therapy and has expertise in stem cell and HIV/AIDS research. He has made discoveries that have advanced science. Recipient of a Sanctae Crucis Award, the highest non-degree accolade that the College bestows on alumni.
Post-Grad Opportunities
Handshake is the Center for Career Development's online recruiting portal. Students may use this system to apply for full-time employment and internship opportunities.
Many Holy Cross students take a year or two after graduation to engage in full-time service work. View post-grad service opportunities on the Chaplains’ Office website.