T H E B A S I C S O F P R E - H E A LT H C A R E

UGA AMSA - WORKSHOP 1

WHY HEALTHCARE?

• A common question that will be asked of you (and one you need to ask yourself)• The right reasons• Preparing yourself for what lies ahead• The allied healthcare field• Who is involved in healthcare?

Undergrad

Medical School

• Traditional vs. Nontraditional students

• Statistics• Recovering a low

GPA• Post-bac programs• Special Masters’

programs• Gaining more

experience• Saving money• Travel

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Pre-Med• MD vs DO – Allopathy and Osteopathy• AAMC – Association of American Medical Colleges• AACOM – American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic

Medicine

• Pre-Pharm – AACP - American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy • Pre-PA – PAEA - The Physician Assistant Education

Association• Dental, Podiatry, Optometry, Veterinary Medicine

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES FOR UNDERGRADS

• PA – common requirements + 2000 hours of direct patient care hours – 3 years (PA-C)o What is and what is not “direct patient care”

• Pharmacy – bachelor’s degree not required; specific courses, 69 total academic hours – 4 years (PharmD)o Anatomy / Physiology, Microbiology, Economics

• Medicine – the common requirements – 4 years (MD or DO)• Individual requirements will vary school to school

THE BASIC COURSEWORK

• Chemistry, Biology, Organic Chemistry, and Physics (both semesters of each, lab with each)• English and Mathematics (1102 and 2250)• Get the basics completed as soon as possible• Be wary of individual medical school

requirements• “AP out” not allowed – some schools• Supplementary courses for MCAT knowledge

ADDITIONAL COURSEWORK

• Biochemistry (BCMB 3100)• Psychology / Sociology – New MCAT – PSYC (1101,

3230, 3810, 4150, 5850) SOCI (1101)• Anatomy/Physiology (CBIO3710, VPHY3100,

PMCY3000)*, Microbiology (MIBO3500), Cell Biology (CBIO3400)**, ENTO 3650• Genetics – GENE 3200• Immunology - CBIO(MIBO)(IDIS) 4100/6100,

CHOOSING A COURSE OF STUDY

• What do I major in?o Balancing interests with practicalityo Common “pre-med” majors: Biology, Chemistry,

Psychology, Physics, Cell Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Biological Science

• Franklin vs. College of Agriculture (Biology and Biological Science)• Dual Majors• Minors – Biology, Cell Bio, Chemistry, Genetics,

Microbiology, Pharmaceutical Science, humanities• Arts/Humanities

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO AFTER REGISTRATION

• Create your plan• Altering your plan• Setbacks• Contingency plans• Health, well-being > Grades/academics >

everything else

COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS

EXAMPLE ACADEMIC PLAN

http://premed.uga.edu

SO WHAT DO HEALTHCARE SCHOOLS REALLY LOOK FOR?

• GPAo The fabled “cut-off” GPA

• MCAT/PCAT/DAT score• Extracurricular activitieso Clinical experienceo Shadowingo Research experience

• Letters of recommendation• Impressions made during an interview• Personal goals – vary depending on school

THE IMPORTANCE OF GPA AND MCAT

Example: Student A has a 3.7 GPA and a 31 on the MCAT. 67.7% of students fitting Student A’s profile got into medical school.

ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT

• Their role• Establishing a relationship• Different types of academic advisorso The Freshman Advisoro The Gatekeepero The Cheerleadero The Coach

• Utilizing them as a resource

STANDARDIZED TESTS

• The MCAT – Medical College Admissions Testo New MCAT – Four sections -- Biology/Biochemistry,

Chemistry/Physics, Psychology/Sociology/Behavior, Critical analysis/reasoning

• The PCAT – Pharmacy College Admissions Testo Writing, verbal, biology, chemistry, reading/comprehension,

quantitative ability

• DAT/OAT – Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Perceptual Ability, Reading, Quantitative word problems

• Prep courses – Kaplan (Brian Allen -- brian.allen@kaplan.com), Princeton Review

• Self-Study – Exam Krackers

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

• Clubs clubs clubs!!o Healthcare related clubs

AMSA, AED, Pre-Pharm Society, Pre-PA Society, Predental Club, Medlife

o Other clubs! https://uga.collegiatelink.net/Organizations

• Clinical experience• Shadowing• Research• Leadership• Service and volunteer work• Awards and achievements

NON-HEALTH RELATED EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

• Many healthcare schools want a human being• Excelling at what you do• Being well-rounded• Outside interests• Passion• Commitment

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

• Letters of recommendation• Impressions after the interview• What sets you aside from other applicants?• How are you able to demonstrate the attributes

that would make you an effective healthcare provider?• Were you faced with adversity?• Personal struggles• A story• How would a medical school and a healthcare

system benefit by accepting you?

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH FACULTY

• Letters of recommendation• When to begin• AMCAS guidelines – at least 5 letters. Max of 11.o A variety of sources (Ex:) 2 Science, 1 non-science, 1

physician, 1 research professor / other mentor)o People who know you wello Classes you have done well ino Office hours

• UGA Premedical Studies office packet and the little-known loophole• Maintaining the relationship

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

• Attend pre-med orientation• Keep track of names, dates, hours, etc.• Have an active resume beginning freshman year• Set up an appointment with the office for your

respective advisor the year you plan to apply• Know the right time to apply• Begin building faculty relationships• Summers! – Stay busy• The personal statement – begin pre-writing it

anytime• 15 activities section

(CONTINUED)

• The process begins incredibly early on• Be wary of due for different things dates• Apply as early as possible – “batches”• Take advantage of EDPs if you know where you

want to go• AMCAS and AACOM have different requirements

(if applying to both)o GPA, MCAT, and resume are important

INTERVIEWS

• Dress and act professionally• Be prepared to talk about everything you’ve

submitted to the school• Practice sample interview questions• Open and closed interviews• Group interviews• Panel/Committee interviews• Mock interviews and critique• Be confident!

PLACES AND FACES

• UGA Premedical Studies Program – 111 Memorial Hallo Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistryo AED listserv - http://aed.uga.edu/Listserv.htm

• Dr. Alan Langford – previous director of UGA Premedical Programo Recent changeso BIOL2900

• Dr. David Eisner – Interim Director o dirpremed@uga.edu

• Keisha Chandler - Senior Academic Advisor for Premedicalo kchan@uga.edu

(CONTINUED)

• Carol Roberts - Senior Academic Advisor for Predentistry & Preoptometryo robertsc@uga.edu

• Pamela Tolbert – Business Manager and Administrative Supporto ptolbert@uga.edu

• Dr. Martin Rogers - Associate Director of Honors & CUROo martyr@uga.edu

• Dr. Joseph Crim - Professor Emeritus in Cellular Biologyo jcrim@uga.edu

(CONTINUED)

• Dr. Mark Farmer - Professor and Director of the Division of Biological Scienceso mfarmer@uga.edu

• Dr. Kathleen Anderson – Senior Pre-pharmacy Advisoro kanderso@uga.edu

• Susan Herda – Pre-Pharm Admissions Counseloro admissions@rx.uga.edu

• Brian Allen – Kaplan Representative - brian.allen@kaplan.com

• The Career Center - 2nd Floor, Clark Howell Hall o Katelyn Kivett – Pre-health - kkivett@uga.edu

HELPFUL WEBSITES

• AAMC - https://www.aamc.org/• AAMCAS -

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/• AACOM- http://

www.aacom.org/Pages/default.aspx• AADAS - https://portal.aadsasweb.org/• AAOPT - http://www.aaopt.org/• Bulletin - http://www.bulletin.uga.edu/• UGA Premed – http://premed.uga.edu – links to

many other useful things!• SDN - beware

QUESTIONS?