Students contemplating a pre-health major will be given a chance
to explore that possibility this coming Sunday at the pre-health
festival being hosted by the Student Welfare Committee.
The event, which will take place in Young Hall CS50 at noon
Sunday, will feature a roundtable discussion that will include four
professionals in different health fields ““ osteopathy,
dentistry, physical therapy and psychology.
Tijana Srdanov, a third-year student and member of the committee
planning the pre-health festival, said the event is meant to serve
all students who have any remote interest in pursuing a pre-health
major.
However, she said it would especially benefit students who plan
to pursue a career in health.
“They know they want to go into the health field and this
event will give them a better idea of how to get into graduate
school in that field,” Srdanov said.
Brooke Mitchell, the Health, Nutrition and Fitness Coordinator
in charge of the pre-health festival, said that among other
provisions the festival will give students an idea of what they
need to do in order to be competitive in the application process
for graduate school study.
“(The event) is meant to give students tips on on getting
into these health-related schools and expose them to different
options they have in health,” Mitchell said.
Philip Duldulao, a microbiology student who recently completed
the application process for graduate school and wants to pursue a
career in medicine, said he wished he could have had more guidance
during the application process.
Duldulao said he thought an event like the pre-health festival
would definitely be helpful to students contemplating graduate
school study in health.
Mitchell said the event should give students an idea of an
“admission timeline” ““ what students need to do
at various stages of the graduate school application process.
The pre-health festival will provide students with a chance to
hear medical students and professors speak about the health field
and the process of applying to graduate school in that field.
Students will also be given a chance to learn MCAT tips from the
Princeton Review.
Christine Yoon, a physiological science student, said the event
would be helpful because it plans to offer students a chance to
speak with real people in health fields.
“All you see here is books, books, books,” Yoon
said. “Sometimes I don’t really understand what
I’m working toward.”
Henry Lam, a fifth-year sociology student and general staff
member on the event-planning committee, said he hopes the event
will provide students with an opportunity to see different aspects
of the health field and think about where their own interests in
the health field lie.
“I think a lot of students, especially first and second
years, know they want to get into the health field but aren’t
sure what exactly they want to do,” Lam said. “I think
our festival allows them the opportunity to sort of
explore.”
Lam said he believes a large segment of the population of
pre-health students are often “starved for information about
how they can get into the particular fields.”