Blog Post Focus
This post will discuss what a pre-health advisement office can offer and how it can help a prospective medical student.
Introduction – Advising Center
Offices in undergraduate institutions designed for students interested in pursuing medical school go by different names and may be hosted in different departments. However, generally these will have terms such as “pre-medical” or “pre-health” and some form of the word “advising” in them. These offices have resources and personnel who help aspiring medical students better understand the requirements of such an educational journey.
Advisors Work With You
Pre-health advising office staff develop a plan with you to apply to and become accepted to medical school. The plan should detail becoming a competitive candidate, knowing the requirements to reach your goal, and the timeline associated with your goals. These offices help prospective medical students discern appropriate undergraduate course work and what one may do to improve one’s application.
The office is there to help you when obstacles arise, such as when offered classes change, or when you need to change classes for some reason. If your plans change, they are there to help you then, too. Your success is their success so they want to help you.
If you cannot find such an office through your institution’s website one may reach out to their guidance counselor or science professors and ask for contact information.
Conclusion—The Advisement Office Is There To Help You
Every institution is set up uniquely in ways that serve them. Some may do virtual meetings and some may do group meetings. They are there to serve you too. See what options are available to meet. It is ideal to meet as early in your education as you know you are interested in applying to medical school. The earlier you meet the more flexible your course work may be and the more time you will have to build up your CV and put the office of advisement’s advice into action.
Helpful Links
The following institutions are linked to show that sometimes they are called “advisement” offices and other times “advising” offices. Search for your own institution’s office of advising for pre-medical students.
USC Dornsife’s pre-health advisement office: https://dornsife.usc.edu/pre-health/
City University of New York’s Hunter College of pre-health advising office: https://www.hunter.cuny.edu/prehealth.
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