UGA AMSA WORKSHOP 1
THE BASICS OF PRE-HEALTHCARE
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 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
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO AFTER
REGISTRATION
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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?
• 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
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 advisors
o The Freshman Advisor
o The Gatekeeper
o The Cheerleader
o The Coach
• Utilizing them as a resource
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
• 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
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Clinical experience
Shadowing
Research
Leadership
Service and volunteer work
Awards and achievements
NON-HEALTH RELATED
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
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Many healthcare schools want a human being
Excelling at what you do
Being well-rounded
Outside interests
Passion
Commitment
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
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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 well
o Classes you have done well in
o Office hours
• UGA Premedical Studies office packet and the littleknown loophole
• Maintaining the relationship
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
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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)
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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 Hall
o Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistry
o AED listserv - http://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
• Keisha Chandler - Senior Academic Advisor for
Premedical
o kchan@uga.edu
(CONTINUED)
• Carol Roberts - Senior Academic Advisor for
Predentistry & Preoptometry
o robertsc@uga.edu
• Pamela Tolbert – Business Manager and
Administrative Support
o ptolbert@uga.edu
• Dr. Martin Rogers - Associate Director of Honors &
CURO
o martyr@uga.edu
• Dr. Joseph Crim - Professor Emeritus in Cellular
Biology
o jcrim@uga.edu
(CONTINUED)
• Dr. Mark Farmer - Professor and Director of the
Division of Biological Sciences
o mfarmer@uga.edu
• Dr. Kathleen Anderson – Senior Pre-pharmacy
Advisor
o kanderso@uga.edu
• Susan Herda – Pre-Pharm Admissions Counselor
o 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/
• AACOMhttp://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?