PHA Week 4 Meeting

Tuesday 10/22/2013

10/22/13

Announcements

*FREE PRACTICE (MCAT, GRE, LSAT) TEST:* Kaplan is hosting a FREE opportunity for students to take a practice exam. Tests are proctored like the actual exam, and afterwards instructors will give a short workshop on test-taking strategies and will answer questions on*Saturday, October 26th*

 

GRE and LSAT start at 9am and MCAT starts at 10am Where: Rowland Hall: check in starts 30min before each test *Pre-Register*: with this webform<http://tinyurl.com/UCIFree>

 

If enrolling within 48 hours of the event, you should enroll via www.kaptest.com/practice to ensure that you will have a seat (physical or virtual) the day of the event.

Presented To you By:

Pre-health alliance at UCI, 2013

Using Extracurriculars to Your Advantage!

Extracurriculars

QUALITY > QUANTITY

Things you are passionate about!

Well-rounded

Try something new or a bit out of your comfort zone!

Volunteering

Giving back to the

community

Social interaction

Find your passion

Needed although it is

unwritten

Possible L.O.R. can come

out of volunteering

Clinical VolunteeringClinical (Hospitals, Health-Centers, Fairs,

etc.)

Health Fairs

Hoag Hospital (Clinical Care Extenders)

www.copehealthsolutions.org/clinical-internships/cce-application

Gottschalk Medical Plaza

www.healthcare.uci.edu/volunteer-services/college.asp

CHOC (Children’s Hospital of Orange County)

www.choc.org/volunteer

St. Joseph’s Hospital

www.sjo.org/For-Community/Volunteer-at-St-Joseph-Hospital.aspx

Non-Clinical Volunteering

Non-Medical Related Volunteering

Doesn’t have to be science related!

Volunteer Match

www.volunteermatch.org/search?l=Irvine%2C+%2C+USA

City of Irvine Website

www.cityofirvine.org/cityhall/cs/seniors/volunteer_opportunities/default.asp

So many options to choose from!

Soup Kitchens

Karate For All

Autumn Years

Walk-a-thon committees

Questions about Volunteering?

Why is it important?

• Gives clinical experience

• Helps you see an average day of a physician

• Shows commitment

• Help you determine if your field is right for you

• One of the “Intangible” med school req’s

Shadowing

Ways to Shadow a Physician

Health Fairs

Get variety; although not consistent enough

Good supplement to “real” shadowing

Networking

Ask friends, family members, professors, and your doctor for any contacts for shadowing

Hospitals

Hoag, Choc, & Gottschalk all have shadowing components to their volunteering

Ways to Shadow a Physician

Specialized Shadowing

Zotlink: Medical internships

The Center for Future Health Professionals (UCI Med School)

www.cfhp.uci.edu/index.asp?p=26

Email health professionals directly!

10/21/13

On Your Application Include:

Length of involvement

Supervisor

Brief Description

QUESTIONS ABOUT SHADOWING??

Research Experience

Demonstrates independent scholarship and advanced achievement

Not absolutely necessary (depending on grad school)

Give it a try! You never know!

UCI is a research university

Types of Research

Clinical

Non-Clinical (lab)

Does not have to be in the “hard” science

How to Find Research: Professors

Professors you have taken classes with

Bio 199 website

Go to their office

Email them

Include:

Why you are interested in researching with THEM specifically

Why you are interested in that FIELD of research

Approximately how many quarters you are willing to research with them

How to Find Research: Friends/Networks

Ask your peers!

Graded units!

Some labs require this in order to move onto Bio 199

Bio 199Graded Units!

http://students.bio.uci.edu/bio199.html

Can do Excellence in Research

Can get your research published in a journal!

Research: Bio 198/199

Bio 198

• Have a Resume Prepared

• Discuss your Career Goals/Interests

• When you are being interviewed by the professor, Don’t forget to Interview them too!

• Come Up with Questions to Ask Them

• Specifics about their research

• Ask what you will be doing

• Ask if there is possibility of you doing your own project

Research: Interview

• If bio 198/199, fill out the packets online ASAP. Due Week 3 Friday at the latest. No exceptions!

• Ask about attire and what else Is expected

• Always be cordial!

• Read up more about the Research

• Stay Committed

Research: You got the position, Now what?

Questions??

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation:

3-6 letters of rec needed

Science professors, non-science professors, community/ volunteer work letter of rec

Depends on school. Consult with your bio counselor.

LOR: Who to ask?

Physicians you have spent time with

Managers of places you have volunteered/worked at in clinical settings

Faculty who taught you (GO TO OH)

Faculty/mentors you did research with

NO personal friends, family, colleague, etc.

LOR: Great vs Ok Letters

Point is to show WHO YOU ARE

WHAT YOU ARE LIKE

Schools already know your gpa and other extracurrics

Should show your qualities

When ask for LOR, ask if they can write you a GOOD/GREAT LOR

Allow up to 3-4 months for you writer!

LOR: OPEN VS CLOSED

OPEN – you have full access to it

CLOSED – you do not have access to it

Schools preferred closed file!

This is why you should ask early on if they can write you a great letter!

LOR Services

Here at UCI: BSSA HSAC LOR

Must attend workshop. Updates on the bio sci website. BioSci Office canceled the one they had planned. They will email you an updated time of the workshop.

LOR writers will send letters to BSSA, and they will update your file

They store your letters for you until you are ready to apply

Once you put a LOR into your file, you cannot remove it

You need to give a waiver to your writer, so set up your file with BSSA first!

LOR: A Word of Advice

Make sure you have a good relationship with the writer

Ask beforehand if they can write you a letter

Medical schools prefer CLOSED

Give ample time for writers to write

Keep in mind application deadlines

Also, keep in mind BSSA needs time to update your file!

QUESTIONS??

Personal Statements

-Reading a lot of books especially about medicine can give you insight into how doctors think or feel.

Some recommended books…

Personal Statements

-A good resource for writing personal statements…

http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/personal.html

10/21/13

Last But NOT Least…

Other Extracurriculars Med Schools love:

Clubs

Sports and other Physical Activities

Hobbies

Why Med Schools love these too:

They want to know what drives you

Want to see self-motivation

What you do outside of school

Creativity and Uniqueness

LEADERSHIP

So go out their and get involved

At our next meeting on November 5th, we will have a guest speaker, Sean Rose, come from the American University of Antigua to give us a presentation.

Deadline for club fees/t-shirts are on November 5th