Office of Academic Advising
364 Oregon Hall
541.346.3211

Pre-Health News

PRE-HEALTH NEWS-May 2012

Welcome to the May issue of Health News. Look for the newsletter monthly in your inbox. This is a monthly newsletter that is compiled by the Pre-Health Advising Staff at the Office of Academic Advising (364 Oregon Hall). This newsletter contains announcements, articles, and items of interest to pre-health students. If you would like to post an announcement or meeting in the pre-health newsletter, please email a submission to jvanwyk@uoregon.edu . The newsletter is sent at the beginning of each month, please email Jenni no later than the 20^th of the month prior to have the submission posted!

If you have any advising questions the Office of Academic Advising is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. For more information, call the Office of Academic Advising at (541)346-3211.

For information on removing yourself from the listserv for this pre-health newsletter, please see the “listserv Information” at the end of the newsletter.

Pre-Health Advising is on Facebook! “Like” us at www.facebook.com/uo.prehealthadvising.

Please visit us at: http://advising.uoregon.edu/AA_Pages/AA_PreHealth.html .

Announcements/Courses/Opportunity

Premed Osteopathic Awareness Events-May 8^th & 10^th
New Scholarship Available at the UO for Summer 2012- May 11^th
College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific NW visits UO- May 16^th
OHSU School of Medicine visits UO- May 22^nd
TLC’s Summer UO MCAT prep- June 1^st
UO Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) is recruiting- June 1^st
Interesting article about the New MCAT

Not admitted to you professional program of choice? Here are some Plan B’s

Healthcare Career: Medical Informatics

Pre-Health Advisors

Student Organizations

Listserve Information

Newsletter Archive

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COURSES/OPPORTUNITES

Premed Osteopathic Awareness Events-May 8^th & 10^th

The pre-med osteopathic awareness night will be held Tuesday, May 8^th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the COMP Northwest Campus in Lebanon, Oregon. There will be a second event held on Thursday, May 10^th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at OPSO in Portland Oregon. Dr John Pham, DO, will discuss developing an effective personal statement! There is no charge for the event, but they ask that you please register in advance. If you have any questions contact OPSO at (503) 299-6776 or email info@opso.org.

New Scholarship Available at the UO for Summer 2012- May 11^th

The Global Oregon Initiative invites UO undergraduate students to apply for one of ten $500 research awards offered to support global education experiences (study abroad, international internships, international research opportunities). Global Oregon is a university-wide strategic initiative to enhance internationalization in the student experience, in research, and in outreach to the state and the world. Like all strategic initiatives, it blurs the boundaries among teaching, research, and community service. Global Oregon is deliberately cross-regional and interdisciplinary, drawing together UO expertise on every world region and from many academic domains to address truly global challenges and to internationalize the student experience, and by extension the state. Deadline to apply is Friday May 11^th, 2012. The recipients will be announced in early June. For more information contact Sergio Ibarra Bolaños, Global Oregon GTF, globaloregon@uoregon.edu.

College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific NW- May 16^th

The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest (COMP-Northwest) will be visiting the UO on May 16^th, from 6:00 to7:00 pm in the Gumwood Room (near the Ballroom in the EMU). Located in Lebanon, OR, COMP-Northwest is the newest medical school in the state. Continuing traditions started at Western University in Pamona, CA, and partnering with Samaritan’s Lebanon Community Hospital, COMP-Northwest representatives Luke Rauch, Recruitment and Public Relations Officer, and an Admissions Officer will be present to answer questions about what they are looking for in their future medical students.

OHSU School of Medicine Visits UO- May 22^nd

OHSU School of Medicine will visit the UO on May 22^nd, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm in the Ford Alumni Center Room 202. Representatives from OHSU medical Debbie Melton (Admissions Director) and Vicki Fields (Associate Dean) talk about the application to OHSU medical school, and the realities of what to expect as a medical student. This is not one to miss!

TLC’s Summer UO MCAT prep- June 1^st

The UO MCAT Preparation workshop is conducted by faculty members and testing experts who teach material specifically tailored for the MCAT. All instructors focus on helping students perform to their best abilities on the MCAT. The summer 2012 UO MCAT course costs $650 and priority registration is June 1^st. The program is available at the UO campuses in Eugene and Portland. The sessions are live in Eugene and broadcast in Portland. Please contact the TLC about joining the workshop remotely from alternate locations. The programs schedule is as follows:

Mon, Tues, Thur; 1:00-4:00pm
6/25, 6/26, 6/28: Biology
7/2, 7/3, 7/5: Physics
7/9, 7/10: General Chemistry
7/12: Verbal Reasoning/Writing
7/16: General Chemistry
7/17, 7/19: Organic Chemistry

Registration forms and contact information are available at the website http://tlc.uoregon.edu/learningservices/testprep/mcat.html or contact Elly Vandegrift (ellyvan@uoregon.edu) or TLC 541-346-3226 for more information.

UO Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) is recruiting- June 1^st

The Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) is a campus group that works directly with the Director of the Health Center to help improve the services the Health center offers to the students in order to better serve the students and their needs. SHAC members serve as liaisons between the student body and the University Health Center (UHC), they promote good health throughout the University community, and help develop, market and evaluate UHC programs and services. SHAC members participate by attending all SHAC meetings (held Fridays 3-4 in the Health Center Basement), by providing input at meetings, voting on UHC recommendations and volunteering for events during the year. We are currently recruiting new members for next year. The application is due June 1st and it should be submitted to the Health Center Executive Assistant, room 276 at the Health center. For more information, please visit: http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu/Home/SHACStudentHealthAdvisoryCommittee.aspx.

Interesting Journal article about the New MCAT

Currently, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a mandatory exam for admission into all medical schools across the nation. There is an interesting article by the New England Journal of Medicine that describes the redesign the MCAT to better reflect the physician’s current challenges in their health field. The article illustrates the desire to include behavioral sciences as well as biological sciences to the outline of the test. To read the article visit: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1113274.

Not admitted to you professional program of choice? Here are some Plan B’s.

If you are a pre-health applicant you should have a plan A and plan B. Not getting admitted to your health professional program of choice can be very bad news and can make you feel like giving up completely. However, it is important to remember that health professional schools are competitive and even rejections do not mean that you are not good enough. Start focusing on your plan B, because it is not too late to start. Here are ideas of options:

Des Moines University’s Master of Science in biomedical sciences program is designed to enable students to further develop their careers in medical and scientific research and academic medicine to benefit the health of people around the world. Biomedical research is an important part of health care today and requires the work of scientists in a wide variety of settings, including academia, government, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology-dependent industry. Graduates may be employed as advanced technicians, laboratory managers, educators and scientists using their skills in such diverse areas as cancer research, clinical diagnosis, infectious disease, monitoring food and water supplies and teaching the next generation of scientists. Many have gone on to enroll in medical school as well. If being involved in advancing the knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of illness and finding ways to improve people’s health world excites you, this program will give you the skills to become a participant in these activities benefiting the health of people around the world. For more information, visit their website at http://www.dmu.edu/mbs/ or call 800-240-2767, extension 1499, or email msadmit@dmu.edu.

Drexel University College of Medicine has a few programs of interest. One in particular is the one-year Medical Science Preparatory (MSP) graduate level certificate program is designed to help students enhance their academic credentials for application to medical or other health professional schools. The program has been designed to help students improve their academic science background and help them prepare for their MCAT test or improve current MCAT scores. The curriculum offers graduate-level biological science coursework, undergraduate review courses in physics, chemistry, and organic chemistry, a community outreach course, and an MCAT preparation and review course. Students who complete and pass all courses included in the Medical Science Preparatory program curriculum will be granted a certificate of program completion. Students typically begin the application to medical or other health professional schools following successful completion of this one-year program. Students continue to receive assistance from the office during this application process. Students achieving a minimum 3.00 graduate GPA and an MCAT score of 27 or better are granted a guaranteed acceptance into the Master of Biological Science (MBS) program. Completion of the MBS program leads to a Master of Science degree. Telephone: 215-762-4692. Email: medicalsciences@drexelmed.edu.

The University of Northern Colorado is offering its Master’s in Biomedical Science (MBS) program this Fall 2012. The MBS program is designed for talented students who have earned an undergraduate degree in sciences. This is an academic enhancement program to provide a way to improve or expand the students overall scholastic credentials. This MBS program is appropriate for students considering a future in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or biomedically related Ph.D. programs. The program has rolling admission which began in January. For more information visit: http://www.unco.edu/biology/mbs_program/mbs_program.html or contact the Program Coordinator: Dr. Ginger Fisher at Ginger.Fisher@unco.edu or 970-351-2210.

One year Columbia University MS program for Physical/Healthcare professionals interested in pre-medical, dental and public health students to integrate nutrition into their work as a health professional. This M.S. program is offered to physicians and other health specialists who wish to augment their training with knowledge of nutrition. The program is part time and takes two to three years to complete. It is designed to meet the academic and scheduling needs of practicing clinicians. This also gives the student a chance to spend on year in New York City and take advantage of the exciting cultural and political activities in the city. Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2012 and the deadline in June 15^th. Email: nutrition@mail.cumc.columbia.edu or call: (212) 305-4808 for more information. For more information about Columbia University’s IHN go to: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/ihn/education/ms_science_physician.

One of the best things to do is to simply get more experience and explore new interests. Get a job as a health care assistant or phlebotomist. You do not need much experience to do this type of work but these opportunities can give you useful experience and you can earn money at the same time. Become a certified nursing assistant upon completion of training. Also enroll in upper division science credits to enhance your science knowledge.

HEALTH CARE CAREER: Medical Informatics

As health care and information technology become further intertwined, the ability of patients, health care professionals, researchers and policy makers to use of health information quickly and accurately has become crucial. Medical Informatics is an integrative discipline combining computational, informational, cognitive, organizational, and other sciences whose primary focus is attainment, storage, and use of information in the health/biomedical domain. The type of informatics jobs one performs is dependent on his or her background. The programs at OHSU are considered graduate level and requires a bachelors degree. OHSU’s informatics program is currently available via distance learning. For more information about this new and interesting health care career visit:

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/departments/clinical-departments/dmice/ .

PRE-HEALTH ADVISORS

If you would like to speak with one of The Office of Academic Advising pre-health advisors please schedule an appointment (541-346-3211) to meet with one of the following advisors:

Jenni Van Wyk, Megan Coble, and Shasta McLester

STUDENT GROUPS

Asklepiads Pre-Medical Society

If you are interested in medical volunteer opportunities and sharing information about medicine, plan to get involved with the Asklepiads pre-medical society. The Asklepiads meet every other Tuesday at 7pm to 8pm in Willamette 110. The meetings will begin week two and occur until week 8. Membership to the Asklepiads is open to everyone interested. The Asklepiads can be contacted via e-mail at premed@uoregon.edu or visit http://pages.uoregon.edu/premed/ .

Pre-Dental Club

The Pre-Dental club is organized to help students learn more about professions related to the dental field. All interested students are welcome. The Pre-Dental club meets every other Wednesday, times vary. If you have any questions please email dental@uoregon.edu.

Pre-Health Service Club

The Pre-Health Service Club is a student group that encompasses various pre-health fields, such as pre-med, pre-PT, pre-PA, pre-nursing, and many others. The human physiology department peer advisors, composed of a wide variety of pre-health backgrounds, coordinate the club activities. They regularly feature guest speakers such as health professionals and admission counselors, and provide departmental curriculum info session as well as many volunteer opportunities. The meeting time varies each term, but all members on the mailing list are notified about the meetings, if you are interested in joining pre-health service club, please email hphypeer@uoregon.edu.

Pre-Nursing Club

Pre-Nursing Club has a new location/time for meetings: The 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 5:00 pm. Meetings will take place in the Knight Library in room 102. Also they have a Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/UOPreNursing. If you have questions about the club contact: uoprenursing@gmail.com

Pre-Pharmacy Club

The Pre-Pharmacy Club is designed to help students achieve their goals related to any area of the pharmacy field, including but not limited to careers such as pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmaceutical sales representatives. This club is always open to new members who are taking pre-pharmacy courses or anyone who is interested in learning more about this field. The Pre-Pharmacy Club can be contacted via e-mail at prepharm@uoregon.edu.

PT Club

This club is currently inactive. If you would like to restart it, please contact Lori Manson at loric@uoregon.edu.

Pre-Vet Club

For information on meetings times, days, and locations, please contact Andrew Nishida at prevet@uoregon.edu .

Students for Global Health

Since 2007, Students for Global Health has been meeting to learn about and take action against worldwide disease, focusing on the plagues of HIV/AIDS and malaria. We have guest speakers, action events, fundraisers and help coordinate summer internships. They will be having meetings on Thursdays at 7pm in Gerlinger 246. For more information, visit: http://uoglobalhealth.org

LISTSERV INFORMATION

If you know someone who is interested in receiving this newsletter send an e-mail to Jenni Van Wyk jvanwyk@uoregon.edu. Please list your e-mail account in the e-mail. Students are asked to subscribe using uoregon.edu accounts only, please.

If you would like remove yourself from this mailing list, please send an e-mail to <majordomo@lists.uoregon.edu> with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe uo_pre_health. This message must be emailed from your subscription email account.