Cassandra Ciglar, EdD, RDN/LD, GCDF
Cassandra Ciglar, EdD, RDN/LD, GCDF
Dr. Ciglar— known to her students as Dr. C— holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and is a Certified Career Coach (GCDF). She specializes in admissions advising for applicants to medical, physician assistant (PA), veterinary, and dental programs, as well as allied health professions, including occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), pharmacy, and nursing.
With more than a decade of experience in higher education and over two decades in healthcare, Dr. C brings a unique perspective to prehealth admissions advising and career coaching. She has served as a prehealth admissions advisor, career coach, and faculty member, and was the first Executive Director of the Office of Prehealth Professions and Advising at Northeastern State University.
Dr. C has been a Senior Admissions Consultant with Prehealthadvising Admissions Consulting since 2022, and in that time has advised over 140 clients. Read testimonials of many of her clients.
As the Health Sciences and Prehealth Professions Career Coach at The University of Tulsa, she coached more than 250 pre-med, pre-PA, and pre-allied health students each year, helping them navigate professional school admissions and career decisions.
But Dr. C also understands career change personally.
After more than 10 years in healthcare—including work as a microbiologist and IVF laboratory technologist—she chose to pursue a new direction. She returned to school, earned an MA in Dietetics, passed the Registration Exam for Registered Dietitians, and later completed a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, specializing in organizational change.
That experience shapes her approach to admissions advising and career coaching, helping clients identify how existing skills, education, and experience can become the foundation for something new.
For Dr. C, the most rewarding part of coaching has always been the relationships she builds with the people she serves—and seeing them move toward careers that are meaningful and fulfilling.
Contact Dr. Ciglar
Career Highlights
- Senior Admissions Consultant since 2022, successfully advising and mentoring over 140 clients applying to medical, dental, veterinary, PA, OT, PT, pharmacy, and nursing programs.
- >95% placement rate in jobs or graduate programs for undergraduate and transfer students coached at University of Tulsa.
- Served as Health Sciences & Prehealth Professions Career Coach for approximately 650 students at The University of Tulsa, earning a >91% survey response rate and >98% “strongly agree” satisfaction rating.
- First Executive Director of the Office of Prehealth Professions and Advising at Northeastern State University.
- Created and implemented Health Careers Week at The University of Tulsa, connecting students with representatives from more than 20 health profession programs.
- Invited presenter for 100+ presentations to college faculty and students, both in person and virtually.
Teaching Experience
- Developed and taught a prehealth career course helping undergraduate students understand health profession admission timelines and develop competitive application strategies.
- Developed and taught undergraduate and graduate-level nutrition courses, including Basic and Advanced Nutrition, Medical Nutrition Therapy I & II, Nutrition Assessment and Counseling, Food Science, Introduction to Nutritional Sciences, and Community Nutrition.
- Designed and delivered engaging curriculum using diverse instructional approaches to support students with varying learning needs and backgrounds.
Education
- EdD in Educational Leadership from the University of New England.
- MA in Dietetics from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
- BS in Microbiology with a minor in French from Oklahoma State University.
- AAS in Medical Laboratory Technology from Tulsa Community College.
Publications
Crawford-Ciglar, Cassandra. “An Evaluation of College Students’ Use of Social Media in Nutrition Education for Lifestyle Behavior Changes” (2016). All Theses and Dissertations, 51. https://dune.une.edu/theses/51
Crawford-Ciglar, Cassandra. “Using Social Media to Enhance Lifestyle Behavior Changes in College Nutrition Courses” (2017). Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 117, A68.