1. THE BASICS OF PRE-HEALTHCARE UGA AMSA - WORKSHOP 1

2. 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?

4. Undergrad Medical School Traditional vs. Nontraditional students Statistics Recovering a low GPA Post-bac programs Special Masters’ programs Gaining more experience Saving money Travel

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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,

9. CHOOSING A COURSE OF STUDY What do I major in? o Balancing interests with practicality o 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

10. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO AFTER REGISTRATION Create your plan Altering your plan Setbacks Contingency plans Health, well-being > Grades/academics > everything else

11. COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS

12. EXAMPLE ACADEMIC PLAN http://premed.uga.edu

13. SO WHAT DO HEALTHCARE SCHOOLS REALLY LOOK FOR? GPA o The fabled “cut-off” GPA MCAT/PCAT/DAT score Extracurricular activities o Clinical experience o Shadowing o Research experience Letters of recommendation Impressions made during an interview Personal goals – vary depending on school

14. 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.

15. ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT Their role Establishing a relationship Different types of academic advisors o The Freshman Advisor o The Gatekeeper o The Cheerleader o The Coach Utilizing them as a resource

16. STANDARDIZED TESTS The MCAT – Medical College Admissions Test o New MCAT – Four sections -- Biology/Biochemistry, Chemistry/Physics, Psychology/Sociology/Behavior, Critical analysis/reasoning The PCAT – Pharmacy College Admissions Test o 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 brian.allen@kaplan.com Self-Study – Exam Krackers

17. 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 https://uga.collegiatelink.net/Organizations Clinical experience Shadowing Research Leadership Service and volunteer work Awards and achievements

18. NON-HEALTH RELATED EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Many healthcare schools want a human being Excelling at what you do Being well-rounded Outside interests Passion Commitment

19. 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?

20. 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 well o Classes you have done well in o Office hours UGA Premedical Studies office packet and the little- known loophole Maintaining the relationship

21. 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

22. (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

23. 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!

24. PLACES AND FACES UGA Premedical Studies Program – 111 Memorial Hall o Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistry o AED listserv - http://aed.uga.edu/Listserv.htmhttp://aed.uga.edu/Listserv.htm Dr. Alan Langford – previous director of UGA Premedical Program o Recent changes o BIOL2900 Dr. David Eisner – Interim Director o dirpremed@uga.edu dirpremed@uga.edu Keisha Chandler - Senior Academic Advisor for Premedical o kchan@uga.edu kchan@uga.edu

25. (CONTINUED) Carol Roberts - Senior Academic Advisor for Predentistry & Preoptometry o robertsc@uga.edu robertsc@uga.edu Pamela Tolbert – Business Manager and Administrative Support o ptolbert@uga.edu ptolbert@uga.edu Dr. Martin Rogers - Associate Director of Honors & CURO o martyr@uga.edu martyr@uga.edu Dr. Joseph Crim - Professor Emeritus in Cellular Biology o jcrim@uga.edu jcrim@uga.edu

26. (CONTINUED) Dr. Mark Farmer - Professor and Director of the Division of Biological Sciences o mfarmer@uga.edu mfarmer@uga.edu Dr. Kathleen Anderson – Senior Pre-pharmacy Advisor o kanderso@uga.edu kanderso@uga.edu Susan Herda – Pre-Pharm Admissions Counselor o admissions@rx.uga.edu admissions@rx.uga.edu Brian Allen – Kaplan Representative - brian.allen@kaplan.com brian.allen@kaplan.com The Career Center - 2nd Floor, Clark Howell Hall o Katelyn Kivett – Pre-health - kkivett@uga.edukkivett@uga.edu

27. HELPFUL WEBSITES AAMC - https://www.aamc.org/https://www.aamc.org/ AAMCAS - https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/ https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/ AACOM- http://www.aacom.org/Pages/default.aspx http://www.aacom.org/Pages/default.aspx AADAS - https://portal.aadsasweb.org/https://portal.aadsasweb.org/ AAOPT - http://www.aaopt.org/http://www.aaopt.org/ Bulletin - http://www.bulletin.uga.edu/http://www.bulletin.uga.edu/ UGA Premed – http://premed.uga.edu – links to many other useful things!http://premed.uga.edu SDN - beware

28. QUESTIONS?